


Rosewood Redux

by GildedGardens



Category: Pretty Little Liars Series - Sara Shepard
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 04:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 33,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/426982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GildedGardens/pseuds/GildedGardens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/U. A series of vignettes based on a scenario in which Ali's plan to kill Courtney is completely successful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Act One: The Return to Glory

It was so, _so_ easy. Easier than she thought it would be. All it took was one hard shove and now Courtney DiLaurentis was no more than a memory. Alison DiLaurentis watched her twin lying lifelessly in the cavernous pit with satisfaction. She snatched _her_ A-is-for-Ali ring and an LG phone from Courtney's hands just before pushing her into the hole in their family's backyard. The psycho made a bit of noise in the brief struggle but that could probably work to Ali's advantage.

A quick glance at her house confirmed that no one inside had heard her. They would've come outside to see the commotion by now, so she assumed she was safe at the moment. Ali checked the time on her sister's phone. It was almost nine. She could go back inside…but she wanted to do everything to ensure her plan would work. There was far too much riding on tonight to be careless or lax. Thinking fast, she turned around and headed back into the woods, this time towards a special location. Gloved hands occasionally threw down a couple of Polaroid photos on her way to her destination. Finally reaching the old well, Ali scattered the rest of the pictures near the damned thing. Courtney was so obsessed with the ugly landmark for reasons only known to her.

Ali dropped the Polaroid camera next to the well, took a step back, and surveyed the site. Nodding in satisfaction, she ran back to the Victorian mansion. Crouching near the back door, she peered into her kitchen. Her mother appeared to be leaving with a man who wasn't her father. Upon a closer examination she realized it was the next door neighbor Mr. Hastings. His hand rested on her mother's lower back as he murmured into her ear. Interesting...she got the sense things were tense between her parents on the ride back to Rosewood, but she didn't think they'd be cheating on each other. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Alison waited until she heard her mother's car start and leave the driveway. She pulled out a key from her pocket and unlocked her door. She ran up to her bedroom—finally she could get back her _real_ room—and fell onto her bed. With closed eyes and slow breaths, Ali reflected on what she had just done in the last twenty minutes. This had to work. It just had to. She couldn't bear it if she had to go back to the Preserve. What Courtney did was horrible and she had to make sure her insane sister paid for all the anguish she caused her. Thankfully she did just that. Now that part one of the plan was completed, she needed to guarantee that the second half would keep her in Rosewood.

Slowly rising up, Ali took a shower and changed into her pajamas. She returned to her room and thought carefully about her next move. After a half-hour of deliberation, the final component of the scheme was settled. It was a tricky maneuver but it wasn't impossible. Ali just had to play her cards right and hope that her parents would believe her. Timing the alarm clock for 8:15, Ali got ready for bed. It was early but she was so exhausted from the day's activities.

* * *

Saturday Morning

Ali jumped up before the alarm even went off. Thinking of what Courtney wore yesterday, she pulled on a sky blue shirt and white terrycloth shorts. It was pretty close to her twin's outfit and she didn't want to take any chances. She put on her A ring (after cleaning it from her sister's germs), checked her reflection in the mirror, gave herself a quick pep-talk, and crept into the hallway. No sounds from downstairs; that was good. If either of her parents or Jason were downstairs it would be over for her.

Silently making her way down the stairs, Ali slipped into a pair of flip-flops and moved into the kitchen. She opened and closed the back door a bit loudly to indicate she was home. There was a bag of fresh bagels and croissants on the table. She took a croissant and had it with some orange juice as her mother entered the kitchen a few minutes later. "Oh, Ali. You're back early. How was the sleepover?"

Ali arranged her features into a look of distress. Jessica frowned and asked, "Honey? What's wrong?"

"The sleepover was okay at first, but…I saw Courtney spying on me through Spencer's barn window! She was taking pictures of me. And my friends almost saw her too."

"What? I can't believe this. She should know better by now. Where is she?" her mother demanded.

The blonde hesitated. "Well, I told my friends I had to get something at the house so I could find Courtney and tell her to go back inside. But she was acting _weird…_ at least more odd than usual. She sneaked up behind me in the backyard and started to taunt me. She said that 'this was it' and she wouldn't be 'living in my shadow' anymore. She pushed me down then she ran into the woods. I tried to follow her, but I got so tired. I had a fight with Spencer a few minutes before that and I just wanted to celebrate my last day of school. I didn't think it would turn out like this!" She let her eyes water and she covered her face. Before Jessica could respond, she continued, "I came inside to find you or Dad, but no one was home. I didn't know what to do. I thought she might have returned. Is she upstairs?"

"Let me check." Mrs. DiLaurentis went upstairs. After a few minutes, she returned with a pale face and drawn features. "She's not in her room or anywhere upstairs. Check the basement to see if she's possibly hiding anywhere. I'm going to search this floor." Ali nodded and pretended to search the lowest level of her home. She came back a few minutes later to see her mother wringing her hands. "This cannot be happening. The doctors said she was getting better! Alright, I need to calm down…" she breathed in and out slowly and looked directly at Alison. "Here's what we're going to do. We will wait until noon to see if she returns. If she doesn't then we'll have to hire a private investigator. We cannot have the police handling this if Courtney really is missing. And of course, you'll tell the PI everything about last night in the chance that your sister doesn't come back in a few hours. Understand?"

Ali nodded and bit her lip. She looked down at the floor in faux guilt. "I'm sorry Mom, I should've gone after her longer than I did."

Mrs. DiLaurentis shook her head and hugged her daughter. "Honey, you did everything you could. It's not your fault that she had a relapse. Perhaps seeing your friends and your lifestyle was too much for her to handle. I did catch her talking to them in your room a couple of days ago. Go upstairs and rest for a bit. Your father and I will handle this."

"Okay." Ali slowly walked to her bedroom and shut the door. She stood in place for a minute or two and let the reality of the conversation sink in. She did it. She finally got her life in Rosewood back. Ali let out an involuntary giggle and clapped her hand over her mouth. She continued to laugh in silence as she made her way to her bed. Elation took over and she grinned vacantly as she thought about everything she wanted to do.

A few hours later, Ali was still on her bed. Her new LG phone and iPod were resting nearby. She saw a few songs on the MP3 that needed to be deleted. Picking up her phone, she scrolled to a contact that was titled 'Spencer'. She hit the call button and heard the girl after three rings. "Ali! Where were you? Everyone was so worried. Why did you disappear without telling us where you went?"

Ali furrowed her brow. She hadn't talked to Spencer much before going to the Preserve so she didn't know if the girl was pretending or teasing her. "Um…you saw me go into the woods, remember?"

" _What_ _?_ No, you just left after I told you to get out of the barn. I tried to follow you but I couldn't find you. Are you pulling my leg? Because this isn't funny Alison. The whole sleepover was ruined thanks to you."

So she wasn't lying. She sounded too angry to pull it off. How interesting. Did she get amnesia or something? Whatever happened, Ali didn't want to press the issue and prompt the girl into remembering. The less she knew, the better it was for Ali. "Nevermind, I was joking. Get a sense of humor. It might make you less prissy." As she listened to the girl angrily retort she heard a loud whirring noise from her backyard. Turning swiftly to her window, she saw the construction crew directing a huge cement truck to the hole. The workers were about to set the foundation for the gazebo.

Ali rushed to the window and watched as the truck poured cement into the ditch. Her breathing sped up in excitement. They'll never find Courtney now. Her plan was officially complete. She snickered in delight as the hole was filled to the brim with cement. "God, you're such a bitch sometimes Ali! Do you really think this is funny? You can't keep playing with my mind and holding the kiss with Ian over my head. I'm not going to let you do this anymore," Spencer ranted over the line.

The blonde sighed. Now that she got her life back, it was time to start planning for the long term. The first thing to do was cut out the undesirables in her life: these four losers who landed her in the mental hospital _and_ that creep Ian Thomas. At least Spencer remembered the first fight of the evening with Courtney. That would make it easy to cut ties with her 'friends'. Courtney's most recent diary entries indicated how sick and tired she was of these girls. She had already started to drive a wedge between herself and the four nobodies. Ali would finish what her twin started and neatly push them out of her life. "Uh huh. Tell someone who cares. Do me a favor and tell the others I'm fine. I don't really feel like talking." She promptly hung up and watched the crew finish laying out the gazebo's foundation. Everything had gone according to plan. She felt like she was on top of the world.

* * *

Sunday Afternoon

Ali lounged in her room and thought of the perfect way to break things off with her psycho twin's friends. She would be meeting the girls in an hour at Spencer's and she wanted to be rid of them as soon as possible. Her reflections were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Ian was calling. Ali smirked and flipped open the phone. "Hey _Ee_. What's up?"

Ian laughed. "Hey, it's been a really long time since you called me that. I tried to see you on Friday night, but I saw you arguing with someone. Plus I was kinda drunk, so I wasn't exactly in the best state of mind. Sorry."

Ali drew in a sharp breath. He saw them? Damn it, she thought it was only her and Courtney out in the open! "Oh really? What exactly did you see?"

"Uh, I just saw you and another blonde arguing then I went back inside Mel's house. Like I said, I don't remember too much."

Her shoulders slumped in relief. "Yeah, that was Spencer. We had a bit of a disagreement. Anyway, why are you calling?"

"You know…to talk about the 'ultimatum' you gave me? It's kind of excessive, Ali. Do you know how much trouble I could get into if people knew about us? I don't think you understand."

She grinned. Perfect window of opportunity coming up! "Of course I do," she declared. "In fact, I understand _so well_ that I'm going to end things right now. I don't know what I was thinking in going out with you, Ian. There's no way this 'relationship' is going to continue. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone. It would be too embarrassing for me."

"Uh…seriously? You're saying it's over just like that? But I thought you wanted to become official. You sounded so desperate on the phone on Wednesday. What made you change your mind?"

Ali rolled her eyes. "I've had a lot going on in my life in the past few days Ian. It's made me realize a few things that I want to change. And that change starts with you."

"Well…okay then." He didn't sound upset at all, just a bit baffled. "Um, thanks for not telling anyone about us. I think it's probably best that we stop this before it gets too far anyway."

"I'm glad we agree. Bye now," she hung up and deleted his number from the phone.

* * *

Later That Afternoon

Ali tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Hanna to show up. She was sitting in Spencer's family room with the other three and she wanted to make this as quick as possible. Aria—that freak with the weird clothing—spoke up. "So, where did you go Ali? We don't know what happened after you hypnotized us."

Ali snorted. Leave it to Courtney to try something so stupid. She fit in with these weirdos perfectly. "I don't think it's any of your business Aria. How's your dad by the way? Enjoying his time with his students?" She smirked at the blanched look on the girl's face. The one good thing about Courtney was her diary-keeping: she painstakingly wrote about her friends and the secrets she discovered. It was definitely juicy gossip. Everyone's attention was distracted when Hanna appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late," she squeaked as she tugged on her too-tight shirt. Ali wrinkled her nose in disgust. Her sister just _had_ to pick the rotten apples to befriend, didn't she? "Ohmigod, we were kind of scared for a moment Ali. It was really mean of you to leave like that."

"It's not like she's ever been nice to begin with," Spencer muttered. Emily gave her a sharp look but Ali simply laughed. It was true and she was proud of it.

"Anyway," the blonde interrupted. "I think it's time for me to stop pretending and tell you guys the truth. And I think you know what I'm about to say." Ali paused for a moment and looked at each of them before declaring, "I am so _sick_ of all you." She watched in satisfaction as the girls' expressions fell. "I know it hurts, but the fact is that I've been getting tired of hanging out with you for months now. It was a fun little project to play with losers like you, but I'm a little bored and I don't think you deserve to be my friends." She leisurely rose from her seat and walked towards the exit. "See ya. And don't even think about talking to me when eighth starts. You'll be ignored."

"Ali! Wait, please!" Emily cried as the blonde exited the room. She was halfway across the Hastings backyard until she felt her arm being tugged. She turned around to find the redhead clinging to her. She bit her lip in annoyance. "Ali! I don't understand. Why are you doing this? Did we do something wrong? What happened between you and Spencer at the sleepover? Did she say something to you?"

Alison breathed out forcefully. "Let me go _right now._ I thought I was clear back in Spencer's house. I don't want to talk to you ever again and I don't even want to associate with you. You're nothing but a bunch of pathetic freaks and I can't believe it took me so long to realize that. _Don't touch me_ ," she warned as Emily moved to grab her shoulder.

The redhead's face crumpled and she started to cry. "Ali…I don't get it. It's almost like you're a different person. You're being so h-horrible to us," she stammered as she wept.

 _Oh you don't know how accurate you are with that statement,_ she thought wryly. She gave a short laugh. "Emily, it's time to move on. People ditch each other and make new friends all the time. You still have the party of losers over there to hang out with. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than chat with you." The redhead simply shook her head and walked back to the estate, still audibly sniffling. Ali smirked and continued to go to her house.

* * *

Two Weeks Later

Ali walked into the Sweet Tooth Shoppe and saw her old friends seated at a booth near the back. She took a deep breath and walked over to them. "Hi girls," she greeted as they watched her apprehensively. She called them a couple of weeks after she severed ties with Courtney's friends and Ian.

Unfortunately she couldn't contact them sooner because of her family's close work with a private investigator. He found the pictures and camera Ali planted in the woods and told the DiLaurentises that Courtney probably either ran away or killed herself out of some type of psychosis. Since it was unlikely that the girl was suicidal, they went by the runaway theory. Luckily for Ali, the doctors had documents from her twin's time at Radley that showed she actually had an obsession with running away. It was confusing and upsetting to the family, but they accepted it and had paid the PI extra money to track her down. Hope was dwindling fast, but they clung to it nonetheless.

At least Ali had those two weeks to plan out her reconciliation with her friends. She brought a couple of old photographs of herself and her twin, along with a pamphlet on the Preserve. She had a feeling it wouldn't be difficult to win them over as long as they were willing to listen.

She ordered a mango smoothie for herself and settled in the seat across from them. They eyed her warily. "So, what's up? I thought you'd be hanging out with your new friends," Riley sneered.

"That's the thing. They're not my friends," Ali began. "Actually…I was never friends with them."

Naomi let out a bitter laugh. "What do you mean? Are you saying you pretended to like them? Why would you do something so dumb?"

Ali sighed. "Hear me out. I'm going to tell you something that is only supposed to be known by my family. Regardless of your decision at the end, you have to promise you won't tell _anyone_ what I'm about to say." She gave the girls a firm but neutral stare.

Riley shrugged and pushed her red hair back. "Okay, fine." Naomi nodded reluctantly.

"Good." She lowered her voice. "Now, think back to that weekend at the beginning of sixth grade. The one when the Time Capsule Flag competition was announced." The girls nodded. "On Friday afternoon, we hung out in the hot tub. You guys wanted to head to my room but I said no, remember?" More nodding from her friends, but with a note of confusion this time. "Well, there's a very good reason for that. You see…Jason and I aren't the only kids in the family. I have a twin sister named Courtney," she admitted quietly.

Naomi's jaw dropped while Riley gasped. "You're lying," the blonde told Ali. "There's no way you have another sibling. How could you even hide that?"

"I'm not done," Ali calmly stated. "The problem with Courtney is that she is completely insane. When we lived in Connecticut, she tried to drown me in our swimming pool and told me that she deserved to be Alison instead of me. My parents took her to a bunch of psychiatrists and they determined that she needed serious, constant supervision. We ended up moving to Rosewood before I entered third grade because it was far enough from people who knew about my sister and it was a nice place for us to start over."

She took a sip of her smoothie and continued. "My twin was placed in a mental institute in Philly called The Radley. It closed down just before sixth grade and Courtney had to go to another hospital. She was home and all set to go to a new place in Delaware on the weekend of the Time Capsule Flag announcement. But she was so upset about leaving and having to start over that she figured it would be fun to steal _my_ place in Rosewood. Somehow she managed to trick my mom into thinking she was me the next morning. Before I knew it, _I_ was the one going to the mental hospital and she took over my life in Rosewood. For the past two years, the person you saw was my twin Courtney. I've been stuck in the hospital all this time. Only now did she finally go to where she belonged. My parents just found out about her lies and they were so angry with her. I think she might be staying there for a _very_ long time."

The girls looked at her in stunned silence. Taking advantage of this, Ali pulled her pictures out of her purse for them. "See? I'm not lying. There's the two of us at our seventh birthday party. And this one's from a few days before she tried to drown me. Here's the place she was supposed to go to in sixth," she handed them the Preserve brochure.

After a few minutes of staring at the evidence, Riley found her voice first. "Oh my God…" she breathed. "I-I can't believe you were stuck in that place for all this time!"

Naomi's hands trembled around her smoothie cup. "That's terrible Ali. Did you have to talk to a lot of crazy people? I would be so scared!"

Ali smiled in relief; she was so happy that her friends accepted the truth. "It kind of is scary but not everyone there is crazy. I met a girl who was just there for anorexia but she was pretty sane otherwise." She felt tears coming to her eyes. "I'm so happy you guys believe me. You don't know how awful it's been for me for the past two years. My sister basically stole my life from me and I'm just getting used to living a normal life again."

Her friends were also teary eyed. "We always wondered why you stopped being friends with us," Riley whispered. "It was so odd how you acted like you didn't even know us. And now we find out that it wasn't even you! I'm glad you're back with us now."

"Me too," Naomi said. "God, your sister picked such losers to be friends with. We didn't understand why she went for _them_ of all people. At least we know why 'you' left us. I bet you're stoked that your sister's back in the clinic. She must be really twisted to take over your identity like that."

"Ugh, you have no idea," Ali agreed. "She's done so much crap under my name. It pisses me off just thinking about it. But I have all the time in the world to fix that and I already started by ditching her loser friends. I'm just glad I'm back where I belong. So, we're good?" She smiled hopefully at them.

"Nope, we're perfect! Welcome back Ali!" the redhead declared.

"We should totally do something to celebrate," Naomi chimed in. "I say shopping spree at Sephora! We need new colors for the summer."

"Yes!" cheered Ali. "And I need to get a new wardrobe too. I can't wait to shop in actual stores again!"

"My sister's not too far from here. I'll ask if she can drop us off at King James." Riley pulled out her phone and texted her older sibling.

Naomi twirled her blond hair. "Do you think your sister's gonna be in the mental clinic for the rest of her life?"

A small grin graced Ali's features. "Oh, somehow I doubt she'll be making her way out anytime soon. I have nothing to worry about."

Riley's phone buzzed a minute later. She let out a "Yes!" after checking her message. "She'll be here in five minutes." Eventually the redhead's sister arrived in the parking lot and the reunited trio headed to the mall to celebrate their ringleader's return.

* * *

Early August

It's been over a month since Ali killed her twin and her family was dismayed to find no traces of her anywhere. On a humid Sunday evening, the PI sat across from her parents in the living room.

"I'm completely perplexed to be honest," he said while scratching his head. "My assistant and I have checked all possible video surveillance of transportation areas, retraced Courtney's steps several times over, searched the entire woods, followed all possible leads, and even had the well checked to see if she might have jumped in and drowned. Nothing. It's almost as if she never existed. We interviewed the doctors from The Radley and they said that she never mentioned anything about a specific place she wanted to run away to." He shook his head sadly. "Unless there's more insight you could give me, it's a cold case at this point."

Mr. DiLaurentis sighed as Mrs. DiLaurentis rubbed at her temples. "I see. I suppose there's no use keeping you running in circles. Thank you for all you've done for us Detective," he replied.

"I'm sorry, I really am. If you're willing to make this public, you might have better luck."

"Oh no," Mrs. DiLaurentis demurred as Mr. DiLaurentis fervently shook his head in opposition. "You're one of the best private investigators in the region. If you can't find our daughter, I am certain the police department won't be able to either. We appreciate your assistance." They shook hands with the PI and escorted him outside. Ali sat near the top of the staircase and listened to the whole discussion. Jason was also eavesdropping from the family room.

As soon as the PI left the street, Kenneth sighed again. He looked bleakly at his wife. "I think you know the chances of Courtney returning are essentially non-existent now."

Jessica nodded solemnly. "I suppose I'll call the Preserve and ask them to remove her from their records. This summer was supposed to be so different," she murmured as she headed toward the hall phone. Before she even took three steps, Jason appeared in front of them. He was shaking slightly and his fists were clenched.

"So, you're giving up on the search so easily? It's only been a month and you're already talking about erasing everything connected to your child. You both make me sick," he seethed.

Their mother frowned at him. "Jason, listen to me. We've put all possible resources into finding your sister— "

"No you haven't!" He shouted. "You haven't put any damn effort into searching for Courtney!"

"Watch your tone," their father warned, but Jason was too livid to obey him.

"What would the situation be like if _Alison_ were the one who went missing, huh? If it were Ali who disappeared you'd have multiple PIs _and_ the Rosewood PD on this in a heartbeat. You'd probably even manage to snag a few FBI agents for the search too. But since it's _Courtney_ , the _mentally ill_ one, you don't even want to do any of that because you're more worried about your reputation than your own daughter!"

"Stop it this instant," Jessica spoke in a loud voice. "That is enough Jason. I will not tolerate your disrespect of your father or myself. As I said, we have done everything we could to find Courtney. The fact of the matter is that she's most likely dead at this point." Her voice wavered slightly. "If I were to be frank, I had a feeling that she died long before Detective Morrison started his second wave of investigating. We will end the search for good and focus on healing and moving on from this."

Jason snorted in derision. "Well, it looks like you two got your wish. Now there really are only two children in the family." He shook his head and turned away. "I'm going out for a while. I can't stand to be around you any longer." He stalked off to the garage.

"Jason!" Kenneth sharply called but the teenager kept walking. Ali sighed and trekked back to her room. She had a feeling her brother would rebel against her parents' methods. Thank god they were too concerned about the existence of a third DiLaurentis child being revealed to the public. She was pleased the detective didn't examine the building site of the gazebo or bring any dogs into the investigation. At this point it would be too late for anyone to even consider that location. She glanced out the window. The gazebo was nearly complete; all it needed was the plants and bushes to give it a tropical look. It would be great for having parties. She smirked and realized she'd be partying on the unofficial grave of her sister. Ali didn't feel one bit of remorse then and she still didn't now. Her sister got what was coming to her.

A knock sounded on her door. "Come in!"

Her mother appeared. "Ali, we're thinking of going to the Poconos this weekend to clear our heads a bit, get away from Rosewood for a while. Do you want to invite your friends?"

"Sure, that sounds great. When do we leave?"

"We're planning for late Friday morning and we'll be there until Wednesday. Be sure to ask them as soon as possible." She closed the door and left. Ali pulled out her phone and set up a three-way call with her friends.

"Hey guys, my family's going to the Poconos for a few days. We're leaving on Friday. Do you want to come?"

"Ooh, I'm in! I'm not doing much and I'm sure my parents will say yes," Naomi said.

"Same," Riley added. "I'm so excited! I've never been to your Poconos home before."

Ali laughed. "Well it's only going to be my second time going there. It's pretty nice. The hot tub is awesome!"

"I can't wait to go!" Naomi chirped. "I'll text you to confirm after I ask my mom."

"Sounds good. Bye!" She walked over to her computer. She needed to do some extra research on the Poconos since she still wasn't completely familiar with the area. Ali wanted to make sure she and her friends had the best time there. She smiled as she browsed the web. Just two months ago she was stuck in the Preserve and desperately figuring out to get her perfect life back. Now the plan was complete and she was right where she was supposed to be. Her ideal lifestyle was now even better with the death of her crazy sister. In the end, things worked out just fine.


	2. Act Two: The Old Guard Triumphs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set from the start of 8th grade to the summer before high school.

Act Two: The Old Guard Triumphs

Ali, Naomi, and Riley strolled into the Rosewood Day cafeteria with the confidence of movie stars. It was the third day back at school and Ali had never felt happier. She was back, she was in control, and she didn't have to worry about creepy Ian Thomas hitting on her. Best of all, she didn't have to act like she knew the freaks her sister befriended under her name. Everyone was talking about the switch in her clique on the first day and she handled the gossip with finesse. She grabbed a salad and iced tea and sat at the usual table with her friends.

She tucked her wavy blonde hair behind her ears and took a bite of salad. "So girls, we have to finalize the invite list for our start-of-the-year soiree this Saturday." She pulled out a small purple notebook and flipped to a page of names. "We have twelve people so far. I want to keep the party small and intimate but I think we should add three more to make it fifteen. We've already got Noel Kahn, James Freed, Mason Byers, Tina Stoltham…" she continued to read through the exclusive list.

Riley furrowed her brow in thought. "Hmm…how about Ashley Haaventree? She's a seventh grader but she's pretty chill. She's like one of the few people from her class that won't bring unnecessary drama."

"Sure. Just spell her last name for me," Ali concurred as she wrote down the thirteenth guest.

Naomi sipped her strawberry lemonade and opened her mouth to speak until something ahead caught her eye. She smirked and gestured past her friend. "Someone looks like a lost puppy." Alison looked curiously in that direction and rolled her eyes.

Aria Montgomery was standing in the middle of the cafeteria looking around uncertainly. It appeared that the Loser Brigade separated over the summer. Spencer Hastings was seated with Kirsten Cullen and other field hockey members. Emily Fields was eating a few tables down with her swim team. Hanna Marin and Scott Chin were scouring fashion magazines at a secluded table. And poor little Aria, the biggest freak of them all, had no friends to sit with. Ali and her friends snickered. The raven-haired girl heard their laughter and reddened. She swiftly turned and rushed out of the cafeteria.

"God, she's such a _weirdo_ ," Riley shuddered.

"What do you expect when you're still clinging to stuffed animals and making stupid 'films'?" Ali cackled. She read quite a bit about Aria in Courtney's diary. The girl was even lamer than she thought. "Anyway, back to more important things. Let's figure out who our last two guests will be." By the time classes resumed, the girls settled their invitation roster.

* * *

Spencer poured herself a glass of cold lemonade and walked to the media room. She sighed as she flipped through dozens of channels and found nothing interesting. With her old group of friends, she would've been doing something much more fun than sitting at home on a Saturday afternoon…

Dismayed with the trend of her thoughts, Spencer slapped her forehead and willed herself to think of something else. Her sister's break-up with Ian in July. The refurbished classrooms in the art barns at school. Or even her mother's plans to put new marble floors in the kitchen. Anything except for _them._ Especially _her._

She took one large last gulp of lemonade and got up for another glass when she looked outside on reflex.

The media room had large windows that gave a good view of the Hastings' vast yard and the side of the neighboring house. Spencer was frozen in place as she watched the scene before her. The DiLaurentises' new gazebo was completed just before classes started and it was an impressive sight to behold. The building was just as beautiful as Ali told her it would be in May. It was a huge oval shaped plateau with mahogany lattice railings and a tiered roof. Brightly colored flowers and verdant shrubs surrounded the structure.

In the gazebo, she saw Alison with a small crowd of the most popular people from school. Some were relaxing in the new hot tub, a few were eating, and others were socializing and laughing. In the center of the chatty crowd was Alison herself, wearing a shimmery teal bikini and gesturing animatedly to one of the boys. She laughed and put a hand on his shoulder as they moved to another area of the gazebo.

Spencer turned away from the scene. Just looking at her old friend enjoying the weekend with her new clique left a bitter taste in her mouth. Suddenly she didn't feel like having any more lemonade or finding something decent to watch on TV. She shoved the glass in her dishwasher and stormed up to her room. She closed her windows so she wouldn't have to hear the laughter and loud sounds emanating from the neighboring backyard. After a second she decided to pull her curtains and blinds shut as well.

Heaving slightly after making sure she couldn't see or hear anything outside, the dark blonde sank onto her bed. She angrily wiped tears from her face as memories of that Sunday afternoon in June came back to her. Ali had said such _horrible_ things to them. It made her wonder how long her ex-friend felt like that. Spencer buried her face into her pillow and cried harder. Her fight with Ali, the complete separation from her other friends, the growing feeling that her parents didn't love her as much as her superstar sister Melissa…it was too much for her to take. She really wished she could run away, or be born into a different family… have a completely different life in general. Maybe then she'd have parents who cared about her, siblings who were nice to her for once, and dependable friends who didn't treat her like crap or cause constant drama.

She cried for what seemed like an hour until she was too drained to even move. It hurt. Everything going on in her life just hurt _so much_ that she wanted to be rid of it. The girl sniffled and idly wondered about the others. They all seemed to move on just fine except for Aria. Spencer thought back to the first few days of school when Aria was trying to find a table to sit at lunch. She considered calling out to her but they barely spoke over the summer. It felt too awkward. After a few days the raven-haired girl stopped coming into the cafeteria altogether. Spencer had no idea where she went.

Too physically and emotionally drained to think about her old friends anymore, Spencer closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Aria hugged her stuffed animal Pigtunia to her body after returning from school. She stared blankly at the TV screen while Mike played some random sports video game next to her. It hadn't even been two weeks since school started and she was already sick of it. Perhaps not sick of going to classes, but more like having to deal with the people.

After Ali dropped them like rocks, the girls hung out together only a handful of times. Somehow, it didn't seem fun anymore. Without the one person that brought them together, it almost felt like they were in a forced student-teacher meeting. Everyone was tense and preoccupied with Ali's harsh words on that sunny afternoon. It was funny in a very morbid way to Aria. She thought they could still be good friends after two years of hanging out, but apparently that was too much to hope for. Eventually it got so awkward that they just stopped calling each other. The others had at least one other person to hang out with, but Aria was alone before Ali discovered her.

Now that she was an outcast again, Aria stuck around the art classrooms or headed straight home when school ended. She didn't want to spend more time than necessary at Rosewood Day. Not when Ali and her crew were there to make fun of her.

"Come on… _come on_...dammit!" her brother yelled. Apparently he lost the game. Whatever.

She sighed and looked at Pigtunia. It really sucked to have no friends. She tried changing her style so many times from spring of seventh to now and she just couldn't fit in. Maybe she was destined to be a loner forever. Didn't most artsy people end up like that anyway? It might not be _so_ bad, except she was going to a school where preps and jocks reigned supreme and living in a town where everything and everyone looked like that old 70s Stepford Wives movie. She wouldn't be surprised if some of the residents really were robots.

Ella Montgomery poked her head in through the doorway. "It's time to eat dinner! Mike, turn off that silly game please." The kids made their way into the kitchen, where their mother was serving a casserole that might be considered too adventurous for most 'normal' families. They ate in relative silence for the first five minutes until Byron entered the room. Ella looked shocked yet pleased at his unexpected arrival. "Honey, I thought you had to work late today! Have some casserole and join us."

He sniffed the air and zoned in on the dish. "Mmm, is that curried tuna and lamb I smell? Delicious." He helped himself to a large serving and sat at the table. As he dug into the food, Aria eyed him uncomfortably. He was usually out of the house for most of the day and he often made up a bunch of excuses. She had a feeling her dad was meeting up with his college student Meredith. _She must have been busy today since he's actually spending time with us,_ she thought bitterly.

After a few minutes, Byron spoke. "I have a big announcement to make. You know Hollis College is part of an international academic association for the arts. I was contacted by the head of the art department at the University of Iceland, which is also a member institution. I've been invited to be a guest lecturer for several of the university's art history classes." His family stared at him in shock.

Ella set her fork down. "How long is the post?"

"Three years," he responded. Mike's jaw dropped while Aria unconsciously squeaked.

"I…I don't know what to say." Ella shook her head slowly in disbelief. "That's wonderful Byron. Are you going to accept the offer?"

"Yes, I'm planning to respond to the department chair tonight. And in fact…I was hoping you all would come with me. Think about it Ella: it's a wonderful opportunity to give the kids some exposure to different cultures and the art scene in Iceland is fantastic!"

"…I see…it's a huge decision to consider. But it _is_ a good time to expand the children's worldview. Rosewood can be so insulated from the world sometimes." She nodded after another moment of thought. "I think it's a great idea. Let's do it."

"Excellent!" said Byron enthusiastically. "I figure we should go as soon as possible. There's actually a flight leaving for Iceland in four days. We can easily make it if we start packing tonight."

" _Whaaat_?" yelled Mike. Aria's eyes widened. It was all happening so fast. And usually their dad asked for their opinions on these types of decisions. But he and their mother completely shut them out. It was unusual for a couple who treated their children like grown-ups and encouraged them to call them by their first names.

"Well, this is quite short notice, but that's part of the excitement I guess!" Ella's face was flushed and she had a bright smile on her face. It was the happiest her mother had looked in months. Aria fiddled with the old charm bracelet her dad brought her from an art conference in Italy. The move to Europe was definitely occurring rapidly but somehow she didn't mind at all. Maybe this was just the thing she needed to figure out who she was. The best thing of all was being away from Rosewood, away from the overly polished town she'd been stuck in for her whole life.

Aria calculated the exact day when their flight would leave and realized she only had two days left at school. Suddenly she was _very_ excited to leave for Iceland.

* * *

Emily walked around the local pumpkin patch with her mom and her sister Carolyn. They needed a nice average-sized pumpkin for the house and the ones they saw so far weren't quite what they were looking for. The redhead shivered a bit and drew her green scarf closer to her neck. It was an unusually cold day in October and there were concerns about the pumpkins' conditions. Mrs. Fields wanted to get one as soon as possible since the near-freezing weather didn't seem to be letting up for the next week.

She pulled the cuffs of her jacket over her hands to keep warm and felt her friendship bracelet rub against her wrist. Even though Ali dropped them in the cruelest way possible, Emily kept on the bracelet she made for them after The Jenna Thing. She valued their brief friendship too much to get rid of it. All of the pictures of Ali were packed away in a shoebox and tucked into her closet, but occasionally Emily would take out the box and sift through the photos. She recalled the memory of each photograph perfectly. It was bittersweet but Emily couldn't help it. She adored Alison and she thought she might even love her.

"Mom, what about this one? It's nice and smooth too," Carolyn yelled a few feet away.

"Oh, that's a perfect looking pumpkin, dear! Isn't it Emily?" Mrs. Fields turned to her.

The redhead smiled wistfully as she remembered Ali's Halloween party last year. It was so much fun. The blonde dressed as a modern, hotter version of Sleeping Beauty. Emily chose the blue fairy as a costume after hearing her friend's plans. She had a few pictures from that night and felt the urge to go look at them.

"Emily?" She snapped her head up to look at her mother. The woman had a concerned look on her face. "Honey are you okay? You've been spacing out quite a bit lately…"

"No, it's okay Mom, I'm fine!" she smiled at her mother. "I was just thinking about something in school." She looked at the pumpkin sitting beside Carolyn. "I like that one too! Are we getting it?"

"That's the plan. I'll hold it," her sister said as she picked up the pumpkin. They walked to the owner's station to pay for the vegetable. As they left the patch, a few people walked toward the entrance. Emily sucked in her breath. It was Ali.

The girl's long blonde hair was in a neat, high ponytail and her navy blue coat—no doubt designer brand—was buttoned to the collar. Mrs. DiLaurentis accompanied her and was talking on her cell phone. Riley Wolfe was with her as well. Emily ducked her head down before they could notice her staring. She glanced up reflexively and noticed the two watching her with amusement. Ali whispered in Riley's ear and they both started to giggle. Emily's face reddened slightly and she sped up, overtaking her mother and Carolyn as she reached their van first.

Mrs. Fields frowned as she turned to see the backs of Ali and company. "Were you telling me the truth when you said that you and Alison simply drifted apart this summer?"

"Um, yeah. We just outgrew each other," Emily said nervously. "Why?"

Her mother gave her a look. "Don't play innocent with me. She and her new friend were clearly making fun of you just now." She waited for a response but her daughter remained silent. She sighed. "You know, I never told you this, but Ali always seemed rather questionable to me. The way she bossed you girls around…it was unsavory. I'm a bit relieved that you two aren't so close anymore. She's a bad influence as far as I'm concerned."

Emily bristled despite herself. Sure, Ali wasn't the nicest person to everyone, but that didn't mean she was evil either. To her dismay Carolyn nodded in agreement.

"She definitely isn't the most pleasant person. I've heard a few things about her and her friends teasing others a lot," she looked meaningfully at Emily. Her sister was only a year older than her and occasionally badgered her about supporting Ali's 'mean girl' tactics during seventh grade.

The redhead roughly pulled the door open and hopped into the back seat. "Those are just rumors and she never teased anyone as badly as people claimed," she mumbled. Of course that was a lie but Emily refused to let her family badmouth her ex-friend like that.

Carolyn raised a brow but remained silent as she loaded the pumpkin into the van. As they drove home, Emily saw Aria's old neighborhood. The Montgomerys were in Europe now and she had no idea when they would return. Aria looked so relieved on her last day of school. Emily knew the girl didn't like their hometown and she felt a little sorry for her artsy ex-friend. Hopefully she was enjoying her time away in Iceland.

Emily leaned her head on the window. Sometimes Ali would talk about wanting to run away but she never understood why. The blonde had a charmed life in Rosewood and there was nothing she needed to change. Ali agreed when Emily told her this but she still mentioned the desire from time to time. Looking at her now, it seemed like she was pretty happy where she was. Did she still feel the same way? Emily shifted in her feet and continued to stare out the window. It didn't matter. Not anymore. She covertly watched her ex-BFF at school and she could tell that Ali was living it up with her old friends. Her friendship with Emily and the others was nothing but a flash in the pan.

Emily blinked rapidly as her vision blurred. It was tough and it still grieved her to think of what could have been, but it was time to move on. Ali had made it clear in June that she had no interest in speaking to them ever again. She looked down at the door handle and eventually calmed her emotions. It would take some time, but she had to get over it.

###    


The Hastings estate was spectacularly decorated for the holidays. Melissa sighed happily as she unpacked her suitcase in her room. She just finished her finals at the University of Pennsylvania and her father drove over to pick her up that morning. She hung out with some friends from high school earlier that day and she just returned a few minutes ago. After she finished unpacking, she went downstairs to get a mug of hot chocolate.

Melissa noticed her sister sitting at the table as she entered the kitchen but didn't bother saying hello. She grabbed milk, syrup, sugar, and cinnamon. As she poured the ingredients into the hot chocolate maker, a distant shout drew her attention to the window.

Peering outside curiously, she saw Alison DiLaurentis having a snowball fight with several girls and boys. The young teens laughed and yelled as they tried to dodge each other's snowballs. Alison looked particularly beautiful, with her flushed cheeks, her bright smile, and her hair whipping about her face as she ran wildly around her front yard.

She rolled her eyes and was about to turn her attention back to the hot chocolate maker when she noticed a dark expression on Spencer's face. The girl looked downright resentful as she glared out the window. Come to think of it, she was a little surprised that her sister wasn't out there with Ali.

"Don't feel like playing in the snow?" she teased as she turned on the machine. Melissa heard Spencer laugh bitterly.

"Oh no, it's not that," the younger Hastings said. "She wouldn't invite me over anyway."

Ah, middle school drama. Melissa shook her head and smirked as she watched the hot chocolate machine. Maybe that was why Spencer was never quite at the top like _she_ was when she was her sister's age. Melissa handled the craziness of middle school just fine and still managed to be the number one student. "Well, you girls should make up before Christmas. And you shouldn't let petty dramas distract you so much from your schoolwork!"

Her sister snarled. "We're not friends anymore, there's nothing 'petty' about that. She ditched me and the others and went back to her old crew this summer."

Melissa paused. That was surprising. "Oh. How do your other friends feel about that?"

"I wouldn't know. We all stopped talking to each other after that."

The older Hastings turned to look at her and laughed incredulously. "So because Alison didn't want to be friends with you anymore, you all decided to end your relationships too?"

"It's not funny," Spencer snapped. "We barely talked to each other before Ali randomly decided she wanted to stop teasing us and actually be friends in sixth grade. It's not surprising that we've gone our separate ways." She looked off to the side, where the window was, and shook her head.

Before she could respond, her younger sister started to rant. "Before sixth grade, we each had our own scenes and she _always_ made fun of anyone who didn't fit her definition of 'cool.' And then she suddenly changed her attitude toward us and starting being _nice_. It was so weird, but she brought us together. We were such a strong group. Then she started acting oddly this spring. She was getting more and more distant and then after the sleepover she abruptly switched back to bitchy Ali. Not that she _wasn't_ a bitch during our friendship, but she started to treat us like we were dirt again. Before we knew it, we were out and her friends from fifth grade were back in." She breathed deeply and rubbed her forehead. When she looked up, she saw a pensive frown on her sister's face. "What?"

"Nothing," Melissa murmured. "What you said reminded me of something." Or rather _someone_. She remembered her brief hookups with Jason DiLaurentis. The boy was so lovesick over her but she didn't feel the same way. She felt a bit guilty for playing with his emotions but he _was_ a pretty cute guy. One memory stood out sharply in her mind: it was during the second to last week of her sophomore year in high school, when she, Jason, and a few other people were finishing a group project for their honors Economics class. It was a very important assignment that would get her into the AP section for junior year. She and Jason were completing their portion of the project in the school library one afternoon and he looked rather distressed.

She asked him if he was upset about something and he confessed a major secret: he had not one but _two_ sisters. Ali apparently had a twin named Courtney who was very psychologically disturbed. She learned that the girls hated each other and that Courtney was obsessed with her sister's identity. Jason told her that his sister's mental hospital was closing in early fall and she had to switch to a new clinic. He was worried because Courtney didn't react well to being put in her first institute. He made a very shocked Melissa promise not to tell anyone and she faithfully kept his secret ever since.

Spencer's little tirade about her friend made Melissa strangely uneasy. It almost sounded like her sister was dealing with two different people…or perhaps twins. The timelines of Ali's initial change of heart towards Spencer and Courtney's scheduled move were uncannily synced too. She observed the charismatic girl in her yard intently. Was it possible…?

"Hey, what's with you?" Spencer interrupted her thoughts. "You're spacing out." The younger Hastings glanced outside as well. "And your hot chocolate's ready. Is it something I said about Ali?"

No, it couldn't be. Melissa was clearly over thinking; she blamed it on those conspiracy theories she studied in her American Politics class. Besides, middle school kids tended to be the rudest, most fickle brats. She had no clue what was with that age group but she certainly didn't miss that time of her life. What Spencer just described almost seemed like multiple switches occurred and the chance of _one_ switch was slim enough. No, Alison was simply a bitch. And it didn't look like that would change anytime soon. But still…

"You should stick to hanging out with those girls on your field hockey team," she told her younger sister. "Ali's not the greatest person to be friends with anyway. Consider her a dodged bullet and move on." She turned back to the hot chocolate maker and poured the drink into her mug. Her sister stared at her in bewilderment as she walked out of the kitchen. Just this once she could play the role of protective big sister and give Spencer some needed guidance. But only because the DiLaurentis family and their dark secrets unnerved her.

* * *

Mona Vanderwaal looked at her straightened teeth in the mirror. She just got her braces taken out a couple of days ago and it was so weird to not have any appliances in her mouth. She could eat all sorts of candy and popcorn without worrying about breaking or getting particles stuck in her braces. She smiled tentatively in the mirror but her expression drooped a second later. The platinum blonde still looked dorky. But at least she didn't have to be so self-conscious about her teeth anymore.

She left her room and decided to visit Jenna Cavanaugh. It's been a while since she visited her friend and she wanted to see how she was doing. As she stepped out the door, she felt the pleasantly mild spring air. She walked down to her friend's house. Mona looked at the DiLaurentis mansion on the cul-de-sac and scowled. Sure, it would still be cool to be popular like Ali, but she resented the girl for what she did to Jenna. No matter how much her blind friend played dumb, she _knew_ what she saw. She was right there to witness it all. She would never forgive Alison or those friends she dumped. Never.

She walked into the Cavanaugh's front yard and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Cavanaugh greeted her. "Mona! How are you? Jenna's upstairs in her room. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"No thanks, Mrs. C," she replied with a smile.

"Oh! Your braces are out. You must be very happy."

"I'm _so_ excited. I can eat popcorn and peanut brittle without a care!" she chirped.

Jenna's mother laughed. "Good for you, dear. Let me know if you'd like anything."

Mona thanked her again and walked upstairs. She knocked on the door. "Jenna? It's me, Mona."

"Come in!"

The blonde walked in and saw Jenna sitting on her bed. A golden retriever rested on the side. She stroked the dog's head and sat on the bed's edge. "How have you been?"

"Good," her friend replied with her sweet, soft-spoken voice. "I've started taking art classes with a friend and I'm really enjoying it. It's a challenge to draw without seeing, but I like it. How's everything at Rosewood Day? I never hear anything about the others."

Mona shifted guiltily. She didn't visit as often this school year because she was so busy. "Same old, same old. Kind of. Actually, did you know that Ali DiLaurentis started hanging out with Naomi Zeigler and Riley Wolfe again?"

Jenna tilted her head in confusion. "Really? I thought she got in a bad fight with them a few years ago."

The blonde wriggled excitedly. She _loved_ to gossip. It made her feel alive in a way that she couldn't describe. "Well apparently Ali got bored with her group of friends and told them she didn't want to hang out with them anymore. She ran back to Naomi and Riley and they've been back at the top ever since." She laughed gleefully. "You know, I wish Ali got her just desserts for what happened to you, but I can be happy with the fact that those four girls are at the bottom with the rest of us! If you ask me, they could do with a few more knock-downs."

The black-haired girl frowned and remained silent. Mona stopped laughing and stared at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"That's not very nice, Mona. I'm sure those girls are upset about losing their friend. And I think it's time you learned the truth. But you can't tell anyone." She took a deep breath and spoke again. "I know I've told you that I had no idea who lit the firework that night, but I actually do. In fact…I planned it with her. Ali and I."

Mona sat deathly still and gazed at her friend in disbelief. Finally she shook her head. "No. I don't believe it. You're lying. That's…that's insane Jenna." She laughed uneasily. "Cut it out, okay? April Fool's day is long gone."

Jenna sighed and reached out for her friend's shoulder. "Listen to me, Mona. You were completely right: Ali _did_ shoot that firework in order to cause trouble. But it wasn't out of nastiness. I asked her to do it for me. I didn't want Toby around and she agreed to make it look like he did it. The plan went horribly wrong as you can see, but it worked out in the end. Her friends had nothing to do with it. It was all between Ali and me."

"N-no. That can't be," the blonde whispered. "You wouldn't do something like that. You wouldn't be so deceitful." Jenna tilted her head down. Mona started to tremble. "Why would you do that, Jenna? Why would you plan something that could be so harmful to everyone? I-I know Toby was kind of weird, but why would you try to set him up like that?"

Her dark-haired friend inhaled sharply. "I'm sorry. I can't answer that. It's between me and Alison."

Tears spilled from Mona's eyes. "What, you can't trust me or Phi or Chassy? You'll tell the girl who made fun of you all of your secrets but your own friends aren't worthy enough to share?"

"No, that's not it at all!" Jenna cried. "Look, Ali wasn't even supposed to know, she just found out by accident! Mona, I'm sorry but I _had_ to do this. I knew Ali was the only one who could pull it off—"

"Well _Ali_ didn't do a very good job, did she?" Mona saw her friend in an entirely new light. She never knew Jenna had this side to her. She wiped her tears under her glasses and abruptly stood up. "I have to go. I need to be alone right now." She scurried for the door.

"Mona, wait!"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me. I'm glad you trust me so much," she spat out before leaving the room. She ran all the way back to her room. She cried all evening. She ignored her mother's knocks and stayed inside even through dinnertime. Mona couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that her sweet, kind-hearted friend had the gall to oust her stepbrother with the aid of the super bitch of the school.

She hiccuped slightly and closed her eyes. This felt like a horrible nightmare. All this time she was convinced Ali and her friends were being cruel for fun and in reality it was Jenna who started it. What hurt the most was that she didn't even trust Mona or the others. Seeking the help of someone like Alison DiLaurentis over her own friends was simply unforgivable to Mona. The blonde suddenly hated the popular student; she didn't want to emulate her or try to get on her good side anymore. She envied Ali for holding such an exclusive position with Jenna. Mona also hated her for walking away so easily that night while Jenna screamed in pain due to _her_ stupid actions.

She didn't know if she could ever forgive Jenna for this. Maybe some time in the very distant future, but right now she couldn't look past her friend's deception.

* * *

Hanna folded her arms across her stomach as she walked out of the bathroom. Students from Rosewood Day's middle and high school branches were out at the field to cheer on the varsity soccer team in their final game. It wasn't even June but the temperatures were already near sweltering levels. She had gone inside to refresh herself and to catch a break from sitting in the sun. Hanna just happened to take a break when halftime started and the cheerleaders came out to do their routine.

Her cheeks burned as she remembered her tryout for the squad a few days ago. She wasn't bad, but she wasn't amazing either and she clearly wasn't thin and pretty enough to make the team. _Next year,_ she vowed. _Next year, I'll be up there cheering for the crowds._ Her internal pep-talk was interrupted when she heard someone snicker, "Well if it isn't little Hannakins. Then again, 'little' isn't the best word to describe _you_!"

The brunette looked up apprehensively and saw Naomi, Riley, and _her._ Naomi was the one who made the snide comment, but Ali seemed to find it hilarious.

"We heard you tried out for the cheerleading squad," Riley mockingly widened her brown eyes in shock. "I can't believe you didn't make it! Did you hurt yourself trying to lift up your leg? Was it hard for you to bend over?"

Hanna's face reddened and she looked down at her feet. "Go away," she mumbled. They started to laugh even harder.

"Aw don't be so hard on her, ladies," Ali said after a moment. The brunette looked up hopefully. "It's not easy for a tub of lard like Hannakins to squeeze herself into a cheerleading uniform!" Hanna's face fell and she rushed down the hall, the loud shrieks and cackles of the girls echoing behind her. Wiping tears from her face as she left, Hanna turned the corner and reached the school lounge. Mona Vanderwaal stood near the vending machines. She had also tried and failed to get on the cheerleading squad.

The blonde smiled shyly but sadly. "I heard them making fun of you. Are you okay?"

God, she couldn't believe she was getting pity from _Mona Vanderwaal_ of all people, the girl who was so desperate to be in her clique just a year ago. The girl Ali would constantly make fun of with Hanna and the others. She sniffled slightly and managed to say, "I'll be alright. Do you think a lot of people heard them?"

Mona shrugged uncomfortably and winced. "They were pretty loud. I heard them clearly from here." Hanna laughed weakly.

"Great. Just great. My high school days are going to be awful if things keep going like this." She sat on a couch and stared at the school newspapers lying on the coffee table. She'd be a freshman at Rosewood Day's high school division in less than three months. What would she do? Hanna didn't want to be a loser for the rest of her life.

After a moment's hesitation, Mona walked over and sat in an armchair on Hanna's corner. "Don't say that. High school can be really awesome if you have an optimistic approach to it."

Hanna snorted. "Right. All I have to do is be optimistic. It's not exactly easy to have a positive outlook when you know those three are going to school with us."

The blonde frowned. "Well, it's not just thinking positively. It's about taking action as well. My dad tells me this all the time: If you want to be happy, you have to take those steps to get what you want. No one else is gonna do it for you. Think of what makes you happy and see what you can do to make that a reality."

"Yeah? What would make you happy—if you don't mind me asking," Hanna added quickly.

Mona thought for a while and gazed at the soda machine. She eventually responded, "I guess it's shallow of me, but I really wanna lose weight and be able to wear those cute designer dresses and other nice clothing. I want to be like…supermodel pretty. I also want friends I can really trust and depend on." She then glanced apprehensively at Hanna as if expecting her to tease her.

The brunette nodded at her in understanding. "I totally get it. I really want to be skinny too. I hate being overweight. I wasn't the skinniest before my parents got divorced, but I just blew up after my mom and dad separated nearly two years ago."

She never realized she had so much in common with Mona. She suddenly felt like there was some kind of connection between them, a bond that just might help them understand each other more. "I'm really into fashion and it _kills_ me to know that I can't fit into the clothes the models are wearing," she breathed. "I wish I could be beautiful and confident like them. And—and I really empathize with you on the friendship thing," she murmured. "I've had a lot of issues with that last summer."

The blonde watched her curiously. "Um…I hope I'm not sounding too nosy or anything, but what exactly happened with you guys and Alison? It was all everyone could talk about for the first week of school. No one expected her to get back with her old clique."

Hanna sighed and toyed with the Tiffany bracelet her mom bought her for her thirteenth birthday. "It's really weird. I don't exactly know either. One moment she was talking about how it was going to be 'the summer of all of us' and the next minute she was telling us she couldn't stand to be around us and we didn't deserve to be her friends."

Mona whistled lowly. "Wow. What a bitch."

The brunette frowned at her. "I thought you liked Alison…I mean, you know…" she trailed off uncomfortably. She didn't want to bring up the past when she and the others would tease Mona and her friends.

The blonde shook her head. "I changed my mind. It's easy to ignore the truth about someone until you're forced to see it. I don't know why I wanted to be friends with someone as vicious as her."

"Oh…" Hanna found she couldn't disagree with the girl. Ali really was a heartless bitch. Lately she was regretting all the mean things she said and did just because the pretty blonde told her to. Her head shot up when Mona spoke again.

"Say…why don't we help each other out? Both of us want to get thin and have a good high school experience, right? We can figure out a weight loss program for ourselves! There's still plenty of time before high school starts. We could provide encouragement and support to each other!" She was met with silence from the brunette. Mona fidgeted nervously and said, "Uh, I guess I was getting ahead of myself. I didn't mean to-"

"No, no! I really like your idea!" Hanna interrupted. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I thought…well, I honestly thought you'd hate me because of sixth and seventh."

Mona shrugged. "I'm over it. The past is the past and it's not like you were being mean just for the fun of it. Not like her. I think you're pretty nice actually." The brunette kept herself from laughing at that last declaration. Nice? She would never describe herself so kindly.

But she had to admit Mona was a lot cooler than she thought. She was interested in the same things she was. She even thought they could be really good friends. Hanna smiled at the blonde. "It's a deal! By the time freshman year starts, we'll be cute and slim! The models won't have anything on us!" The two high-fived and giggled. Maybe, just maybe, high school won't be so bad. Mona was right: it was all up to her to make her dreams come true.

* * *

Alison and Naomi walked out of Mademoiselle Adeline, a high-end hair salon in King James Mall, during the early afternoon. Ali got subtle highlights and had her hair cut in sleek, stylish layers. Her friend got a shoulder-length haircut and side-swept bangs. She examined her reflection carefully before leaving and grinned. In one week she'd make her debut as a freshman. She couldn't wait to start high school. She planned to dominate the social scene just like she did in eighth grade.

Naomi checked a text on her phone. "It's Riley. She saved us a couple of seats at the Rive Gauche!" The glamorous café, which opened a few years ago, was a big hit with the girls and many other Rosewood Day students. They'd been spending much of their time there gossiping about their classmates and planning for freshman year.

"Awesome. Let's grab a quick lunch and do some shopping at Marc Jacobs afterward. I saw some cute dresses in the window display." The two found the redhead sitting near the door and joined her at the table. A few minutes later, a small basket of fries with truffle oil was set on the table.

Riley popped a fry into her mouth. "Everyone from class is shopping today. I saw some of the swim geeks going to JCPenney and…" she leaned in with a smirk on her face. "You'll never believe it, but I saw Hanna Marin and Mona Vanderwaal at Sephora and they both lost a shitload of weight!"

"No way!" cackled Ali. "I have to see this."

"I only noticed them from a distance," Riley admitted. "But they had to have lost at least 20 pounds each. It's insane."

"Damn, guess we can't make fun of their weight anymore," Naomi chuckled.

Ali tossed her hair back. "Oh don't worry ladies, there's gonna be plenty of material to taunt them with. A loser stays a loser no matter how much they transform, after all."

"At least that geek Mona stopped trying to talk to us." Naomi wrinkled her nose. "It was so annoying having her seek our attention like a puppy."

"Ugh, let's move on from this talk about the outcasts, kay?" Riley sipped on a glass of red wine. It was so wrong but the staff at Rive Gauche looked the other way when it came to underage drinking. They had too many wealthy clients to push the issue. She tapped her manicured hand on the table. "Hook-ups! Dating! Boys in general. Who are we thinking of?"

"How about Sean Ackard?" Naomi suggested.

Ali made a face. "Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way. He's a little too squeaky clean and boring." She chewed on a fry pensively and said, "Let's go for guys like Noel Kahn and Mason Byers. They're the type that's not afraid to have a good time."

"Ooh, Mason is so _hot,_ " the other blonde fanned herself. Her friends laughed.

"Looks like we've found your boy-toy," the redhead teased. "I really like Seth Cardiff. You know, the guy on the swim team? He's so chiseled and he's only fourteen!"

Ali smiled. "Nice choice. As for me…I wouldn't mind having a few hook-ups with Noel. James Freed is hot too."

"You and Noel would make _such_ a hot couple!" Naomi enthused. "You should totally go for it."

"Wait a sec. I'm not even thinking about _real_ dating, just the informal get-together," the blonde cautioned. "Casual dating's okay, but nothing too serious. Besides, you never know who might be entering Rosewood Day High from another middle school. We could get some more cute guys to flirt with."

"That's true," Riley agreed. "But it's always good to have a boy or two in mind. Just in case!"

"Oh definitely," Ali said while Naomi nodded. They finished eating and headed to Marc Jacobs next. Forty-five minutes later, each girl walked out with at least one bag in her hand. Ali said goodbye to her friends and was picked up by her mother shortly afterward.

On the ride home, Mrs. DiLaurentis asked, "So honey, how are you feeling about going into high school? Are you nervous?"

"Not at all. I'm so excited. I can't wait to be a freshman!" she replied.

"Good. Since you're getting older, your father and I think you're responsible enough to have a later curfew. We think 11:15 is a good time for now. We'll loosen it up a bit more once you can start driving. You're also going to be alone in the house more often, especially with the business trips your father has to take. We trust that you're mature enough for this."

"That's cool," Ali said. "I won't throw crazy parties or anything." No, she'd leave the wild bashes to the Kahns and have the more laid-back events. Her mother didn't need to know that of course.

"Well, I must say I'm proud of how much you've grown up Alison." She briefly glanced at her daughter. "I have to admit I was a bit concerned about you for a moment while you were in seventh grade. We all were."

Ali pursed her lips and looked out the window. "You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm perfectly fine. I think that was just my awkward stage," she lied. ' _Awkward' my ass. Thank god I don't have to deal with her anymore._

"Maybe it was those girls you used to be friends with," her mother mused as she turned onto their street. "They seemed nice enough but they were also a bit… strange."

"Yeah, I don't really know what I was thinking when I started hanging out with them. I'm totally better off without them now." She shrugged and got out of the car. As her mother locked the garage door, Ali took her bags upstairs. The rest of her day was spent texting and chatting online. She finished an IM conversation with James Freed a little after midnight and went to sleep.


	3. Act Three Part One: Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in the first month of junior year in high school.

Act Three Part One: Changes

Hanna checked her reflection in her locker mirror. She applied more peach-toned LORAC lip gloss and smoothed out her auburn hair. It was the first day back at school and her first class was AP English. She admired her reflection for a moment—she'd become much prettier than she was in middle school—and closed the locker.

After she and Mona transformed themselves, they decided that trying out for cheerleading was lame. It wasn't all for nothing though; both girls had established a nice position for themselves in the complicated social hierarchy of Rosewood Day. They weren't the most popular students, but they were well-liked enough. She gnashed her teeth as she heard familiar voices down the hall. No, _those_ were the most popular girls at school.

Alison DiLaurentis and her two lackeys were making their way to their first classes. Ali was as gorgeous as ever; she was taller, her hair was slightly longer, and she generally looked like she belonged in a photo spread in _Vogue._ The blonde sported stylish Fendi heels as she walked with Naomi Zeigler and Riley Wolfe. Hanna personally thought the two were growing up to be kind of ugly.

They breezed past without a glance in Hanna's direction. She rolled her eyes. Ever since she and Mona became glamorous in time for high school, the trio was even more hostile to them. She and the blonde took it as a compliment since the bitches clearly viewed the two as their competition. They backed off once they realized that Hanna and Mona weren't interested in clawing their way to the top. The brunette was obsessed with popularity in middle school and she liked to think she grew out of that kind of thinking. Besides, trying to go against Alison was like facing down a stampede of elephants. She and her BFF were quite satisfied with being beautiful in the background.

 _Speaking of friends_ …Hanna grinned as she saw the platinum blonde walking a few feet ahead of her. She weaved through the crowd of students and touched her arm. "Mona!"

Mona turned around and smiled. "Hey! What's your first class?"

"AP English. It's in that classroom." She gestured towards a door up ahead.

"Ooh, my AP American history class is next door. Sweet! We can meet up on Tuesday mornings then." They chatted for a while outside the room since they had a few extra minutes. Hanna felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around.

"Hey," a black-haired girl murmured. Hanna stared at the girl's face for a quick moment before recognizing her. Was that really _Aria?_   She changed a lot…then again so did Hanna. _I thought she was in Europe though._

"Wow, hi," she finally blurted out. Aria smiled tentatively. "How was Europe? Where were you again?"

"It was really nice. I lived in Iceland," the girl replied. Hanna did another brief once-over of her old friend, noting the way she accessorized her uniform. She looked like she walked straight out of a hipster convention. Well, at least it seemed like she found her niche. She had to admit the bohemian-hipster look suited Aria nicely.

"Well, I'll be going inside," Aria said tonelessly before walking into the classroom.

Mona whispered behind her, "Wow, she's definitely a lot different from what I remembered. I guess living in a different country for that long will change you no matter what."

Hanna tilted her head. "Aria was always the loner type. She never really liked being here. I wonder why she returned." Her ex-friend didn't seem too happy to be back at all. It was unfortunate but in the end it wasn't any of her business. She turned towards her friend and asked, "Are we going to Rive Gauche for lunch?" Rosewood Day juniors and seniors had the privilege of leaving campus during the lunch period.

Mona nodded as she glanced at her schedule. "Yep. Let's see, I have Honors Calculus before lunch. I'll be pretty close to the parking lot. Can we meet at your car?"

"Sure. I think I have Spanish class so I shouldn't be too far from there either." The bell rang. "Later," she called as they went to their classrooms.

* * *

Emily finished changing in the girls' locker room. Her swim practice ended early and she was _so_ tired. She planned to spend the rest of the afternoon with a few members of the swim teams and her boyfriend Ben Coogan, who was also a swimmer. She had about ten minutes to meet him. She turned to one of her teammates, Maria Sonetti. "Are you coming to Applebee's with us?"

The Italian-born swimmer snorted. "No thanks. I really don't want to hear anything from that charming boyfriend of yours." Maria happened to be gay and proud of it. Emily thought she was especially brave to be an open athlete, but it did bring her some grief. The redhead found out the hard way that many of the male swimmers—including Ben—were rather homophobic. She kept scolding him and begging him to stop giving Maria a hard time, but he didn't care at all.

"I'm sorry…I keep telling him to be more civil but he just won't listen to me. Guys are jerks," Emily muttered.

The girl smiled at her. "Don't be upset. It's not your fault he's an asshole. Anyway, I have an engagement to fulfill. I've been helping a new student get familiar with the school for the past few days. She's really nice."

"Oh. Which student is this?" Emily knew that there were about 3-5 new incoming juniors this year.

"Her name's Maya. Her family's from California and she moved into that huge brownstone house on Noel Kahn's street. I'm meeting her outside the locker room in a couple of minutes." She swept her long wavy black hair into a ponytail. "Do you want to meet her?"

"Sure," Emily shrugged. She had some more time and she knew Ben would be horsing around with his teammates. He was rarely on time for anything besides swim meets. She sighed and followed Maria outside. After a minute, she saw a black student walking towards them. She had a smooth tawny complexion, curly brown-black hair, and warm hazel eyes. Her body was slim and graceful. The redhead caught herself staring for a moment and blushed slightly.

"Hey, I hope I'm not too late!" She smiled at Maria and looked inquisitively but amiably at Emily. "Who's this?"

"Maya, this is a teammate of mine, Emily. Emily, meet Maya." The girls smiled and shook hands.

"How do you like Rosewood so far?" she asked while looking intently at the new student. She was beautiful. Her mouth felt slightly dry and she could feel her heart speeding up a bit. Emily snapped out of it. _What is wrong with me?_ The only other time she felt like this was with Alison… but she couldn't be gay. She just couldn't. Yes she _might_ have loved Ali, but that was because the girl enthralled her since she arrived in Rosewood eight years ago. She was pretty sure she was straight otherwise. She thought of her tall, handsome boyfriend to reassure herself.

"It's cool, I guess. I kinda miss my hometown San Francisco though. The people there were more laid back. And they had awesome Mexican food."

The redhead laughed. "We have some okay Mexican restaurants here…I think you'll have to go to Philly or New York for the good stuff though." She twisted her swim jacket sleeve. "And the people here are kind of intense. It's kind of like a competition to see who has the perfect life." She added hurriedly, "But not all of us are like that. Just the insanely rich ones."

 _Which happens to be like 85% of the town._ Emily lived in an old, modest neighborhood and her family was in the town's minority of middle-class households. It didn't always bother her but it occasionally made her uncomfortable to be surrounded by so much wealth. She idly wondered how rich Maya was. If she was living in a ritzy neighborhood like the Kahns', she must be loaded.

Maya giggled. "I guess I'll have to get used to it. My brother loves it here already; he's a senior and he's joining the tennis team. He's an amazing player! My parents are building a tennis court for him in our backyard." Ah yes, her family was wealthy alright.

"Aw, I hope you'll like it here too." She checked her digital watch. Time to go meet up with Ben. "I have to meet up with the others. Bye Maria! It was nice to meet you Maya."

"You too!" Maya called as she left. Outside she saw Ben chatting with Seth Cardiff. Surprise, surprise: he was actually on time! Emily walked up to them and tapped his shoulder. "Hey." They kissed briefly.

"Where were you? I've been here for a couple of minutes."

"Sorry, I was talking to one of the new girls in our class. Maria introduced me."

"Oh really? Hope she's not a dyke like Sonetti," the blond boy said while Seth cracked up.

Emily gave him a sharp glare. "Ben! I told you to stop saying things like that."

"Chill out, it was just a joke," he smiled lazily at her. The redhead rolled her eyes.

"Let's just go," she muttered as she got into his car. For some reason his homophobic statements bothered her even more than usual. She wondered how he'd react if he found out that she once kissed Alison DiLaurentis. Probably not well. Emily paused at her odd train of thought. How did _that_ come up all of a sudden?

She breathed out slowly as they drove to the chain restaurant. She enjoyed being with Ben but lately she felt like she was going through the motions. Wasn't a relationship supposed to be dynamic and exciting?

She willed herself to put on a happy face and forget about it for now. She was having an off day and she probably just needed to sleep it off.

* * *

Aria bit her lip as she watched Ezra Fitz give a lecture about _The Great Gatsby._ She never expected the guy she made out with in a seedy bar a few weeks ago to be teaching her English class! She knew Ezra was concerned about his job and didn't want to take things further, but she couldn't help the way she felt. In the dull black and white world of Rosewood, Ezra was a brilliant, captivating splash of color. He was a fascinating Picasso painting among a sea of attractive yet bland Da Vinci works.

She focused on those soft pink lips she had once kissed. The raven-haired student was only half listening as she let herself be distracted by memories of their hook-up in the bathroom at Snookers.

"… And that is crux of the message Fitzgerald delivers in this novel. The American Dream has become nothing more than a hollow bid for wealth. You can have all the money in the world but it will never make you whole. It cannot give anyone true happiness."

"It buys a great pair of Louboutins though," Hanna said from the seat in front of her. Most of the class started to laugh.

Ezra sighed. "Yes, I suppose so. I'm guessing you don't agree with Fitzgerald's argument."

The brunette shrugged nonchalantly. "It's interesting but it's a pretty dated message in my opinion. Didn't he write this book when everyone was just beginning to live the fast, decadent lifestyle in the 20s? Of course he's going to be upset about the American Dream being 'corrupted.' Times have changed now and money _is_ what people recognize as the Dream. There's really no way around it. I personally don't mind." Some people murmured their agreement.

Aria gnashed her teeth. Naturally super materialistic Hanna with her designer clothes and accessories wouldn't care. It wasn't just her either; this whole damn town was so self-indulgent it made her sick.

"That's exactly Fitzgerald's point," she spoke quietly yet clearly.

Ezra cocked his head. "Aria, did you say something?"

She sighed and gripped her pen harder. "I said that's the author's point. It's not just the fact that the Roaring Twenties were a time of over-indulgence. He's making the point that the American Dream was steadily transforming into materialism and would remain money-driven from that point onward. People don't care today because they _do_ connect the Dream with 'making it big' in America and becoming rich. But the point is that the Dream was once much more than that. It was what made this country unique. People were driven by meaningful values and weren't obsessed with the money. And fulfilling the American Dream back then was far more significant and inspiring than it is today." She made eye contact with Ezra as she spoke. The whole class was silent for a minute.

"Well I say that it's still awesome to have money," Mason Byers said and high-fived another guy. Several girls, including Hanna, giggled at the boy's antics. Aria sighed. Why did she even bother? She looked towards Ezra and noticed him staring at her pensively. He gave her a small grin and finally spoke.

"As… _insightful_ as that comment was, Mason, I think Aria's analysis was more on point," he stated dryly. Aria felt a blush heating her face and ducked her head. The bell rang ten minutes later and everyone shot up to get to their next class. Aria stuffed her copy of the novel in her bag and made for the door.

Ezra caught her arm. "Aria, wait. Can we talk for a moment?"

"Uh, sure. I have to get to class in the next few minutes though."

"I'll write a pass for your teacher." He gestured towards a couple of chairs in the corner. "Have a seat." She walked over to an old wooden chair as the teacher closed the curtained door. He sat inches away from Aria and faced her. "I wanted to thank you for your remarks in class today. It gets a bit difficult trying to hammer a message like this into students who drive cars more expensive than my college tuition."

She chortled softly. "It's no big deal. Sometimes I get annoyed with the vapid attitudes of people in Rosewood, especially other teenagers. They can't see past their fancy cars and designer apparel."

Now it was Ezra's turn to laugh. "It does wear on the sanity a bit. But it's my job to educate and enrich your minds. At least that's what the higher ups tell me." He grinned as she tried to hold in her laughter.

"Good luck with that," she responded with shoulders mildly shaking. She managed to compose herself and she smiled at her teacher. "I really enjoy this class. I might be the only one who does, but I just wanted to let you know that," she said gently.

"I'm happy to hear that. You're probably my top student out of both sections of this class," he breathed as he leaned forward. On instinct Aria moved closer as well. Their faces were a hair's breadth away…

"Oi, Jones!" a voice yelled right outside the door. The two abruptly jumped back from each other. Aria could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Sounds of laughter echoed a little further down and another male was heard saying "What the hell, dude?" She breathed slowly and deeply to calm herself.

Ezra coughed uncomfortably. "Let me write a pass for you. Which class and teacher are you going to?"

"Honors World History with Mrs. Stevenson," she whispered as he scribbled on a small white form. He promptly gave her the paper and escorted her out.

"Have a good day Aria." His voice sounded a bit strained. Aria nodded weakly and walked to her next class. Why oh _why_ did she have to fall in love with her high school teacher?

* * *

Spencer rolled her neck as she changed into a bikini and headed for her hot tub. She was so exhausted from school _and_ her field hockey practice that she needed some time to unwind. She configured her preferred settings and eased into the bubbling water. She closed her eyes and let the events of the day slide through her mind. She got an embarrassing B- on her AP Economics quiz and the teacher pulled her aside to speak with her after class. He recommended she get a tutor and her rival _Andrew Campbell_ was the only person to go to for that subject.

She exhaled wearily and slumped further into the tub. One of the worst things about this year was that Alison DiLaurentis was in not one but _three_ of her classes. In addition to being on the same field hockey team, she had the bad luck of seeing the girl in AP Biology, Honors Calculus, and the afternoon section of AP English. She sat as far away from the blonde as possible and fervently prayed she wouldn't have to partner with her for any projects.

"Mind if I join you?" a male voice inquired. Spencer jumped up. Only when she saw the source of the voice did she manage to keep herself from screaming.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a slight note of embarrassment. It was her sister's boyfriend Wren Kim. Spencer had no idea how her prissy sister managed to sink her nails into someone like him.

Wren was a handsome British med student attending the University of Pennsylvania. She had met him at Moshulu, an upscale seafood restaurant, with her parents. The two talked for a bit outside and she got to learn about his interesting Korean and English heritage, his reasons for attending medical school, and his general interests. Melissa and Wren were living in the barn Spencer was supposed to have this year. Their townhouse was in renovation and she couldn't wait for it to be finished so her sister could leave. The blonde had to admit she was taken by Wren's good looks and slightly nerdy charm. But of course she couldn't make a move. He was Melissa's boyfriend after all.

He smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I was just studying in the barn and figured I could use a break."

She shook her head quickly. "No, no, it's fine. I just thought I was home alone." She gestured toward the water before her. "Go ahead, get in."

"Thanks." He climbed into the tub and sat across from her. "So, how's school going for you? Is it a busy year so far?"

"Ugh, you have no idea. I have a lot of college-prep classes, I'm running several clubs, _and_ I have field hockey. I also have duties as vice president of my class. Junior year's super important to colleges though, so I need to make sure I do well."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. You seem level-headed enough to handle it all."

Spencer blushed. "I don't know about that. Doing all of these activities is expected in my family, so I guess it comes to me naturally. You've seen what my parents are like."

Wren cringed. "Yeah, they are a bit… _intense_ sometimes."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one!" The blonde laughed and winced as she felt a twinge of pain in her left shoulder.

The med student noticed her flinch and moved closer. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm just a bit sore from field hockey practice." Spencer rubbed at her shoulder tenderly. "It's nothing that a bit of Icy-Hot can't fix."

"Are you sure? I could help ease the pain a bit. Here, turn around and let me see your shoulder. It's probably your posterior deltoid that's aching."

"Uh, sure…" She slowly turned around and felt Wren's hands massage her shoulder. The pain gradually disappeared and she unconsciously leaned into him. Snapping herself out of her stupor, she turned to face Wren. "That was so helpful! My shoulder feels a lot better now. Thank you."

"No problem," he smiled back at her. They stared at each other for a moment and all of the sexual tension she felt seemed to unravel in an instant. Both leaned in to kiss. Wren's lips felt warm and smooth. Spencer leaned against the hot tub and wrapped her arms around his neck as their kiss intensified.

The British student moved his lips to the blonde's neck. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes in bliss. As she slowly opened them again, the first thing her eyes landed on was a window on the second floor of the DiLaurentises' home. It was Ali's window and Spencer could see the girl walking and laughing as she held her cell phone.

Fear shot through Spencer as memories of Alison taunting her about kissing Ian Thomas resurfaced. She pushed Wren away and trembled slightly. "Th-this isn't right. You're dating my sister," she gasped out. Where was Melissa anyway? _She could be here any minute now,_ she panicked internally. "I-I think I should go inside now." Before he had a chance to respond, the blonde was out of the tub and scurrying back to her house.

Spencer didn't stop running until she was in her room. She peeked out the window. Alison was still merrily chatting away in her room. _Did she see?_ Her mind kept churning out horrible scenarios until she forced herself to calm down and think rationally. Ali most likely didn't see them kiss and even if she did, she wouldn't care. Besides, she didn't even know who Wren _was_ , much less that he was dating Melissa. Spencer sighed and slumped into her chair. It was a good thing her eyes landed on Ali's window when they did. She would've still been out there with Wren otherwise.

She shivered as she thought of the handsome med student. There was no way this could continue. Spencer _had_ to stay away from him now. The girl couldn't understand why she kept falling for her sister's boyfriends or why they seemed to like her more. She looked outside again. Wren was nowhere to be seen. _I'll just have to avoid him from now on. Hopefully Melissa doesn't find out._

* * *

On a warm Friday evening, Ali carefully applied navy blue liquid eyeliner while Riley dabbed on rose-tinted lip gloss next to her. Noel Kahn and his brother Eric were holding a field party at their home. It would be the first big party of the school year. The girls were currently in one of the larger bathrooms at Ali's house. A vast marble counter, bright lighting, and a mirror spanning the width of an entire wall made the room the perfect place for multiple people to get ready.

Naomi stood on one end with a flat iron in her hand. "So, how long are you guys planning to stay?" The girls agreed that it would be best for each of them to take their own car.

"I'll be there for a while," the redhead answered after she evaluated her reflection. "Seth's gonna be there, so we should be having some fun of our own," she added with a mischievous grin.

Ali laughed. "I'm definitely staying there for a few hours too. I need to unwind after this week."

"Ugh, tell me about it!" her blonde friend replied. "I know junior year's supposed to be challenging, but I think the teachers are a little _too_ happy to give us all of these assignments and tests."

"Mrs. Welshe is being _such_ a bitch! She gave us two huge problem sets plus a surprise exam on everything we learned from the beginning of the year. And that doesn't even count the regular stuff we have to do every week," Ali replied. Her AP Calc teacher was seriously pissing her off.

"I'm not even going to start on my AP Chem teacher," Riley grumbled while applying beige eye shadow.

"Screw all this talk about school." Naomi straightened half of her hair already. " _I_ want to know the deal between you and Noel, Ali! Are you guys gonna start dating like a real couple?"

The blonde shrugged as she swiped on berry pink lip gloss. "We're still hooking up. I'm not sure Noel would be good boyfriend material anyway." Ali started to mess around with the hottest boy of Rosewood Day in the spring of sophomore year. It was an odd relationship, somewhere between friends-with-benefits and legitimate dating. They dated and hooked up with other people, but somehow they always ended up in each other's arms.

"He'd be a great boyfriend. You guys should totally date! You'd make such a cute couple," Riley exclaimed.

"No way," the blonde giggled.

"Come on, you know you two would be great together," Naomi urged. "Why not make it official?"

"Are we seriously having this conversation right now? We're going to a _party,_ ladies! I don't wanna talk about commitment and boyfriends when I'm gonna have fun!" The others laughed and she shook her head. They finished their hair and makeup and checked themselves in Ali's full length mirror. Ali wore a silk DKNY halter and a full-skirted mini. She slipped into a pair of the newest Louboutins as she headed out the door with her friends.

They arrived at the Kahns' property just as the sun started to set. All of them managed to snag parking spots on the nearly packed driveway. They made their way to the field and were greeted by a multitude of people.

"Ladies, welcome!" Noel Kahn greeted them with several drinks in hand. He handed a cup to each and kissed Ali on the cheek. "Enjoy the party," he left to greet other guests as Riley and Naomi giggled. The blonde gave them a mock stern look.

The next thirty to forty minutes were filled with gossip and chatter about the other guests. After a while Noel and a few other boys joined them to chat. The raven-haired boy slung an arm around Ali's waist. She noticed Emily Fields standing nearby with Ben Coogan but she paid them no mind. A little tipsy and more than a bit flirtatious, she threw her arms around Noel's neck and kissed him just next to his mouth. He pulled her closer and began to make out with her.

James Freed glanced at something beyond Naomi's shoulder and wolf-whistled. "Look who just arrived! It's Finland!" Noel broke the kiss and grinned in the direction of whoever 'Finland' was. Ali turned around and snorted. It was Aria Montgomery. The girl wore a red shirt, a distressed denim miniskirt, and rather ugly boots. The blonde had to admit that Aria looked much less awkward after being in Sweden or wherever the hell she went.

Noel waved and called out, "Hey Finland, do you want anything to drink? We've got a pretty sweet selection!" Ali gave him an incredulous look but his attention was completely focused on the weirdo. A frown marred her features as she remembered Courtney's old diary entries about Aria's crush on Noel. _But he couldn't possibly feel the same way about that loser…_ She glanced at Aria once more and was relieved to see that the girl was too busy looking at the redhead to pay any attention to Noel.

"Thanks, but I'm good for now," she said in a bored tone as she walked over to Emily.

To Ali's dismay, Noel was still watching the raven-haired girl. The blonde usually wasn't the jealous type, but she was a little peeved at the moment. She blamed it on the Bacardi rum and the fact that she refused to play second fiddle to a girl like Aria Montgomery. Ali wrapped her arms around him again and played with the hem of his t-shirt. "I think I wanna lie down for a bit. Maybe in one of those tents. I could use some company…" She gave him a sultry look from under her lashes. After several months of hooking up, she knew exactly how to turn him on.

Now the boy's attention was fully centered on her again. _That's much better,_ she thought in satisfaction. He smiled widely at her and replied, "Sure, I'm game. The best tent's right over there." They left their group of friends and headed for an empty forest green tent. Inside were cushy camping mattresses, pillows, and…a bowl of condoms. _Typical._ Noel switched on the lanterns, closed the tent, and took his shirt off. Ali removed her shoes and set them aside with her purse.

The two made out on the makeshift bed and she could feel him pulling at her top. She broke the kiss and gestured towards the bowl. "Grab one of those before we go any further." Ali was drunk but she didn't completely lose her senses. The boy nodded and fished for the right size. After getting the packet, the teens continued with their drunken yet passionate activities.

* * *

Emily got out of her boyfriend's car and gazed at the Kahn mansion. It wasn't the first time she's been here, but she never lost that dazed feeling from seeing how rich so many Rosewood residents were. It was the same feeling she used to get when she hung out with her old friends at Hanna's house or in Spencer and Ali's neighborhood. She turned to view the elegant brownstone estate in the distance. The St. Germains' tennis court looked halfway complete when they were driving past the home. Maya would probably be at the party. "Hey, let's go," Ben took her by the hand and walked over to the expansive field.

All around them, other people were just arriving or hanging out. She noticed plenty of designer dresses and fancy heels. She glanced down at her slightly beat-up Converse and felt painfully self-conscious. "Ben, what up?" Noel greeted as the two gave each other one of those weird manly handshakes. He handed the blond and Emily two cups of beer and Ben drank rather messily. She made polite conversation with a girl from her chemistry class for a few minutes while she sipped the bitter drink.

As her classmate left to talk to her friends, Emily turned away to survey the area. A growing crowd of people danced and swayed on the large wooden dance floor, the woods were becoming alive with giggles and shouts, and small clusters of teens were chatting with red cups of who knows what in their hands. One person in particular caught her eye. The redhead walked up to Maya and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked casually beautiful in a plain white shirt, an army cargo skirt, and lime-colored sandals.

The curly-haired girl grinned as she recognized the athlete. "It's Emily right? Nice to see you again!" She looked around and said, "Isn't this place awesome? It's the perfect venue for a party. Maria's supposed to meet up with me any minute now."

"She is?" Emily looked around. She hoped Ben would at least keep his mouth shut if he saw her teammate. Speaking of whom…

"Hey," Ben appeared behind her. "Do you want another beer?"

"Sure," Emily reluctantly agreed. "Oh, Ben, meet Maya. She's one of the new students." He nodded at the girl and was shortly ambushed by two of his teammates.

"Coogan, come hang with us!" He laughed and said to his girlfriend, "I'll get you that beer later." Emily rolled her eyes as she watched them leave. It wasn't like she couldn't get a drink on her own.

"Wow, the swim team is pretty rowdy," Maya jokingly said behind her.

Emily laughed. "Only the boy's division. You know how guys are."

The dark-haired girl snorted. "Trust me, my boyfriend in Cali was just as obnoxious with his football teammates." Before Emily could ask more about her boyfriend, Maya looked past her and waved. "Hey Maria!" Emily glimpsed at her teammate. She wore a loose top with multiple shades of green that complimented her olive skin and intense emerald eyes nicely, along with a dark blue denim mini. Her long hair fell around her shoulders in loose waves.

She smiled back at them. "Hi girls. Nice evening for a party, huh?" It was the end of September but it still felt like a warm night in August. Maria moved closer to Maya and glanced at the dance floor. "Ooh, they're playing my favorite song! Let's go dance," the two began to walk over. "Are you coming Emily?"

"Nah, I'm not ready to dance yet," the redhead grinned sheepishly. Maria shrugged and continued walking with Maya. Emily sighed quietly and looked around for Ben. After several minutes she found him talking with a larger group of people. Emily flinched as she got closer to the teens. Alison DiLaurentis was enveloped in Noel's arms and currently making out with him. She looked stunning in a dusky pink halter top and a white miniskirt.

The redhead stopped just next to Ben. He was talking to Eric Kahn, who was only a year older than Noel, and the glamorous Mona Vanderwaal. The platinum blonde had an arm around Eric's waist while another well-manicured hand clutched a red cup. Emily felt even more awkward being around these graceful, stylish girls. James Freed yelled something about Finland and distracted Emily from her rather depressing thoughts.

She saw Aria Montgomery walking straight towards her and ignoring the coolest boys of the school. Her old friend looked ridiculously gorgeous in a different yet refreshing way. She wasn't a carbon copy of the Monas and Alis of Rosewood and she knew the artsy girl intentionally distanced herself from that image. It was the first time she'd seen Aria in three years.

Aria was now face-to-face with her. "Hey," the redhead murmured. "How was Europe?"

She smiled softly. "It was amazing. I wish I were still there." Aria glanced around at the party and winced. "How's everything been in Rosewood?"

"It's pretty much been the same before you left, except for a few things here and there," Emily responded as she eyed Mona kissing Eric. She also saw Ali and Noel walking towards the tents with arms wrapped around each other. She was a bit surprised that Ali had a renewed interest in him. She 'dated' Noel very briefly in seventh grade and didn't seem very into him back then.

Aria glanced at the couple too. "Are they dating or something?"

"Who knows?" the redhead giggled. "I don't think they're official but they're always hanging around each other."

The girl snorted and opened her mouth to respond when a beeping noise sounded from her pocket. Aria took out her phone and answered after looking at the screen. "Hello?" she bit her lip as she listened to the person on the other line. "Yeah, kind of. I haven't been here for very long though." She paused for a moment then grinned. "No problem, I know that area well. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Emily raised her eyebrows as she watched Aria stuff her phone into her pocket. "Leaving so soon? You've only been here for a few minutes."

"Yeah, I know, but this really isn't my scene." The girl shrugged. "It was great talking to you again," she called over her shoulder as she walked to the parking area. The redhead laughed disbelievingly. They only said a few words to each other. She looked over at her boyfriend and cringed at the sight of him getting hammered with his friends. _Looks like I'll have to find another ride home._

She walked around the field for the next hour, chatting with her other teammates, watching kids from different schools practically grind on each other on the dance floor, and seeing even more people giggling and going into the infamous 'Manhood Woods'. She couldn't imagine how many people were hooking up in there. The redhead even spied Hanna Marin pulling her boyfriend into the small forest.

Shaking her head as she passed Manhood Woods, Emily walked closer to the mansion when she heard someone giggle. Whirling around, the first thing she saw was a photo booth. Another giggle sounded and definitely came from the direction of the booth. Emily hesitantly stepped closer until she heard someone moan. Now red-faced but still curious, she moved quietly over to the area where the booth shot out the pictures. Her jaw dropped at what she saw.

The tiny photos were of Maria and Maya laughing, making silly poses…and kissing. Intensely. _I thought she had a boyfriend?_ Emily heard more moans coming from the booth and promptly dashed off. She was sure her entire face was red. Was it too much to hope bystanders would think it was because she was running? She ran all the way to the back porch of the Kahn mansion and sat on a stone step. Catching her breath, she thought about what she just saw.

Then again, she really didn't want to think about it at the moment. Shaking her head furiously, the redhead noticed one of her teammates walking towards the front of the house. "Em, I'm going home. Do you need a ride?"

She jumped up, eager to leave the party as soon as possible. "Yes, _please!_ " It had been a strange night and she felt very uncomfortable for reasons she couldn't even begin to understand. All she wanted to do at this point was go to bed.

* * *

Mona grinned as she and Eric left the photo booth around eleven. Making out with cute boys was so much _fun_ , especially when she was drunk. She clutched a bottle of Smirnoff and balanced delicately on her new Louboutins. She admired her feet as she relived the excitement of getting the last pair of the line's latest design. She saw Alison DiLaurentis rocking the same pair in a different color, but she personally thought _she_ looked better in them.

Taking a hearty swig of the tasty drink, she walked aimlessly until she saw Hanna a few feet ahead of her. She was heading straight for the cars parked on the lawn. "Hey Hanna, wait up!" the blonde called. Her friend stilled and Mona noticed tear streaks on her face as she got closer. "What's wrong, Han?"

The brunette tossed her hair in irritation and cradled a half empty bottle of Ketel One as she replied, "It's my jackass of a boyfriend." She sniffed. "I guess it's _ex_ -boyfriend now. He's such a jerk." Her lips trembled as she spoke. "I mean, am I really _that_ undesirable? I didn't know he was so serious about this stupid V-Club shit!"

The blonde winced. Sean practically boasted about joining the virginity club and it took everyone-especially Hanna- by surprise. Mona personally thought he was a little too prissy and uptight for her friend but she kept her opinions to herself. She guessed that Sean rejected her advances earlier tonight. The girl's strapless BCBG dress was slightly askew and her long hair was a bit mussed.

"Screw him. You're too good for Sean anyway." Hanna scoffed at her declaration and raised her left hand, which held a key chain.

"Yeah, well since he doesn't want to have sex with me, I'm going to screw him over in a completely different way," she snickered as she dangled the keys to his father's BMW. Mona's eyes widened.

"When the hell did you steal his car keys?"

"It was lying in the grass where he threw his jacket." The brunette nodded in the direction of a pile of jackets and shirts. Sean and several other boys were playing a football game in the field. "Why don't we take daddy's BMW for a little spin? It'll be fun." Hanna chugged down a large amount of liquor and headed for Sean's vehicle.

The blonde panicked and reached for her friend's arm. She was wasted as hell but even she could see that this fell into the category of A Very Bad Idea. "Whoa, wait a sec Hanna. Let's just think about this for a moment."

The brunette scowled. "What the hell is there to think about?"

Mona snorted and replied, "How about the fact that you're about to steal someone's car? Plus you're pretty fucking wasted. What happens if you crash the vehicle? What if there are lots of people around to see it?" She shook her head and took a swig of Smirnoff as she gazed out at the field. An idea suddenly popped into her head and she smirked in satisfaction.

Turning to Hanna, she murmured, "I've got a much better, much safer idea for revenge that no one can pin on you." She drained the rest of the Smirnoff, tossed the bottle on a nearby table, linked her arm in Hanna's, and started walking. "Just act like you're super wasted and enjoying the party." Of course they were already quite drunk but that was neither here nor there. They neared the large duck pond and the blonde casually steered them closer to it. "Get those keys ready Han." She moved even closer to the edge of the pond and faked a trip, taking her friend down with her. "Toss the keys in now, but don't make it obvious!" she hissed.

Hanna gaped at her for a moment but subtly threw Sean's keys into the pond seconds later. The blonde shakily stood and helped her friend up, laughing and loudly saying "Oh shit! How the hell did we get to the pond?" Still chuckling, she pulled the brunette away and strolled towards the dance floor ahead.

"Oh. My. _God_. You are amazing," Hanna breathed as they stepped onto the bamboo wood floor. A remix of a Lady Gaga song blared through the speakers. She laughed gleefully and began to dance with her friend.

Mona simply gave a wicked grin in return. She knew how to play dirty—and it felt pretty damn awesome too. The blonde cackled as she imagined the look on innocent Sean's face when he realized his keys were missing. "Hanna Marin, we are going to get you a _real_ stud after this party!"

"Sounds good!" her friend laughed as a Cascada song came on. Mona smiled and danced to the infectious beat. She hooked up with one of the hottest boys of the school, she steered Hanna away from doing something stupid, and she helped her get revenge in the most devious way possible. All in all, she'd say it was a very successful night.


	4. Act Three Part Two: Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set from junior year to the summer before senior year.

Act Three Part Two: Changes

Spencer walked onto the field with Kirsten Cullen and a few other teammates. The weather was still quite warm for the second half of October and the field hockey team had been taking advantage of it. She bit her lip as she saw their new coach for the year stretching leisurely in the middle of the grassy area.

Ian Thomas had returned from California at the beginning of the school year and now he was working with Rosewood Day's varsity field hockey teams. He and Spencer recognized each other in an instant. The dirty blonde always had a crush on him and it felt surreal to see the gorgeous young man back in Rosewood. Ian turned to see the team walking up to him and he grinned. He flashed a particularly bright smile in Spencer's direction and she fought to hide her blush.

"Alright ladies, put your equipment on the bleachers and let's do the usual warm-ups first. Some stretches and a couple of jogs around the field should do it."

Kirsten glanced at Spencer teasingly as they did their stretches. "Are you _sure_ you didn't get with him?"

"Oh my God Kirsten, _no._ Just stop," Spencer laughed nervously while casting a surreptitious glance at Ali DiLaurentis. For whatever reason, the blonde hadn't seemed too pleased that Ian Thomas returned. Spencer would've thought she'd make a teasing comment about that time in seventh, but she remained tight-lipped about the secret.

Ever since Ian arrived in late August, Ali completely ignored him and was occasionally even a bit rude. For his part, Ian avoided her like the plague too and wasn't as friendly with her like he was with Spencer and the rest of the team. It confused the hell out of Spencer but she didn't think much of it. It wouldn't surprise her if Ali threatened him with telling Melissa about the kiss too. It probably created bad blood between them and they just couldn't let go of the issue after all this time.

The warm-ups led to a great practice and Spencer was exhausted afterwards. She couldn't say she enjoyed field hockey but it was something to put on her college application and she made some good friends on the team. Throwing her equipment and schoolbag in her Mercedes, she went back into the main building to hold a brief meeting with the yearbook club and talk to her AP Econ teacher about her progress.

Spencer got home a little before 5:00 and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. She threw on a mint green t-shirt and white sweatpants. She got started on some of her homework and only stopped around dinnertime. Making her way downstairs, she saw Melissa and Wren coming in from the barn as well.

Spencer pursed her lips. She was diligent in staying away from Wren for the past few weeks but occasionally there was simply no avoiding him. It looked like tonight would be one of those moments.

Melissa clutched Wren's arm and completely ignored her sister. "I think we're having salmon tonight!"

"Great," the boy responded while flashing Spencer a quick grin. She looked down at the floor. Before any of them could make it into the dining room, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Spencer was grateful for a distraction from the couple. She peered through the eye-hole and froze. What the hell was Ian Thomas doing on her doorstep? After a moment's hesitation, she opened the door and smiled at the blond. "Hi Ian. What's up?" Her sister's chattering voice in the background stopped abruptly as the name 'Ian' left her mouth.

He smiled at her and held up a book in his hand. "You left this on the field. It must've slipped out of your bag or something." It was her AP Calculus book. Unlike most Rosewood Day students, Spencer actually wrote her name on her textbooks. She took the blue and silver book and gave him a shy grin.

"Thanks," she murmured. Remembering her manners, she stepped aside and asked, "Would you like anything to drink? We're having dinner in a few minutes and we'll probably have enough food if you're hungry."

"Thanks for the offer, but I ate a while ago. I _am_ a bit thirsty though," he said as he walked into the house. Spencer led him down the hallway.

"We have soda, mineral water, lemonade, iced tea…" she trailed off as she saw Melissa and Wren standing right outside the kitchen's entrance where she left them. Spencer never mentioned to her sister that her ex-boyfriend was back in town. She stared intently at the blondes while her boyfriend stood uncomfortably in the background.

"Oh Melissa, I forgot to tell you! Ian's the coach for my field hockey team this year. He's been with us since school started." She found it difficult to keep the smirk off her face.

Her sister crossed her arms and gave the blond a tight smile. "How are you, Ian? Has California been good to you?"

"Cali's great. The weather, the beaches…it's like a never-ending vacation. But I felt like I needed a change so I figured, why not come back to Rosewood? And here I am." He spread his arms out jokingly. "How have you been?"

"I'm doing well I suppose," she replied with a tense smile still fixed in place. She glanced down briefly before asking, "Are you staying with your parents?"

The blond young man laughed. "Hell no! I have my own apartment a few minutes out of Old Hollis. It's in one of the better complexes." He looked around. "I see you're still with your family."

"Only for a while," the blonde quickly responded. "I have a townhouse that's in renovation so once everything's done, I'll be living there." Ian nodded slowly and glanced past her to Wren. She followed his eyes and seemed to forget the med student was standing right behind her. "Oh, where are my manners? Ian, this is Wren Kim. Wren, meet Ian Thomas. We dated in high school."

Both Wren and Spencer looked at her oddly. She didn't even mention the little fact that he was her current boyfriend. Ian seemed to pick up on the dynamic as well, though he played it off and said, "Nice to meet you." Wren gave him a weak smile in return.

"So Ian, about that drink?" Spencer interrupted. This awkward meeting turned out to be more entertaining than she expected.

"I'll have some iced tea. You guys always had the best brew," he responded with a breathtaking smile.

Spencer beamed at him in return. "No problem!" she chirped as she headed into the kitchen. She felt her sister staring at her but she didn't care. It looked like tonight wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Aria stared out at the snowy field during her world history class. She wished she could concentrate—there was a big test on modern Indian history coming up on Friday—but too many things in her personal life were occupying her thoughts.

She watched the snow fall as she thought about her parents. Ella found out about the affair between Byron and his student Meredith a week ago. He was apparently talking to his former student on the phone when Ella came home earlier than usual. Whatever she heard him saying was apparently questionable enough to confront him. He was promptly kicked out after he admitted to having an affair.

It was painful for Aria to see her mother look so drained and lifeless. She couldn't imagine what would have happened if Ella found out that she knew about it for all this time. Mike was horribly upset about the news and soon developed a surly attitude. The worst thing was that this all happened two weeks before Christmas.

Aria hadn't seen her dad since he got kicked out; quite frankly, she didn't want to. She hated him for causing Ella so much pain and she hated Meredith for ruining their family. The raven-haired girl honestly didn't know if she could ever forgive Byron.

With a soft sigh, she turned back to see her rather sparse notes. She picked up her pen and tried to tune in to what Mrs. Stevenson was saying. Unfortunately, her mind wandered again within a few minutes. At least this time the subject of her reflections was much more pleasant. She absently doodled in her notebook as she thought about Ezra Fitz.

She and Ezra hooked up again on the night of the Kahns' boring party and they've been seeing each other secretly ever since. A tiny smile came to her face as she thought of their last meeting two days ago. It was Saturday evening and she stayed at his quirky little home in Old Hollis.

Since her family basically imploded, she found solace in being with Ezra. He had similar experiences with his parents and it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one with a messed-up family. They finally slept together on Saturday and Aria still got shivers thinking about that night. She was planning to see him again after school on Friday. The end of the week couldn't come fast enough.

"Aria? I'm waiting."

Startled out of her daydreaming, she looked up to see her teacher with an expectant look on her face.

"Um, sorry. Can you repeat that?"

Mrs. Stevenson raised a brow before inquiring, "How did Nehru differ from Gandhi in his plans for an independent India?

"Well, he was educated in Britain and he was often more in tune with British culture than that of his own country. He supported a more secular, modernized development of India while Gandhi placed an emphasis on bringing back ancient Indian culture and making Hinduism the main religion."

"Good." The teacher nodded and continued with her lecture. Aria turned to stare at the steadily worsening snowstorm. It looked like the school would have to declare an early dismissal and that was perfectly fine with her.

Sure enough, the voice of the vice-principal came over the speaker two minutes later and announced, "Due to the projected length and severity of the blizzard, classes will end at 11:30. All extracurricular and sports meetings are cancelled. After this session ends, all remaining classes will be on a fifteen minute schedule. Please get home safely."

Several cheers rang throughout the class _and_ the next door rooms. "That's enough. We still have ten minutes," Mrs. Stevenson chastised while glaring at her students over her glasses. The rest of the shortened school day went by in a flash. Before she knew it, Aria was walking out of the art barn and headed towards her Subaru. As she moved past the entrance to the languages barn, someone walked through the door and bumped into her. A hand shot out to steady her.

"Whoa, sorry…hey Finland!" Noel Kahn grinned at her. Aria barely kept from groaning. Since she returned to Rosewood, she was the center of more male attention than she'd ever hoped for in seventh grade. Too bad eleventh grade Aria wasn't into shallow creatures like Rosewood boys. _Sean Ackard_ of all people expressed interest in her after breaking up with Hanna Marin in September. She shuddered at the thought of dating him.

"Cold? Your jacket's not that thick," the black-haired boy said while still gripping her shoulder. Aria gave a wan smile and stepped back.

"I'm fine." She pointed behind him. "I think someone's waiting for you." Alison DiLaurentis had just come out of the barn too—probably from French—and was now staring intensely at the two. She didn't look too amused.

Noel grinned sheepishly and greeted, "Hey Ali. Just bumped into Aria here."

"So I've noticed," she replied while giving the raven-haired girl an appraising look. She adjusted the collar of her black Narciso Rodriguez jacket and turned to Noel. "We should probably schedule our date for another night." The blonde made sure to put a subtle emphasis on the word 'date'.

Aria rolled her eyes. The two apparently became an official item shortly after the Kahns' first party of the school year. Now Ali always got annoyed whenever she saw Noel near Aria. _I can't help it if your boyfriend likes me. You should take it up with him,_ she thought with exasperation.

"Yeah, maybe Wednesday or something," the boy replied absentmindedly. By this time Aria had continued her path to the parking lot. "Hey, wait!"

She sighed loudly and turned around. "What is it?"

"Eric and I are throwing a Christmas party on Friday night. We're not doing gift exchanges or anything. Just some music, the hot tub, drinks… it'll be fun. You should come."

The raven-haired girl coolly replied, "Sorry, I already have plans for that evening."

"Oh. Well if you change your mind, the invitation's still open," he called. Ali stood next to him with a dark expression on her face. Aria shook her head and kept walking.

Back in her car, she turned the heat on and let the vehicle warm up for a few minutes. She wasn't excited about going home, but at least she had something to look forward to at the end of the week.

* * *

Hanna slid her feet into her knee-high brown Manolo boots and searched the coat closet for her beige trench coat. She had long moved on from prudish Sean Ackard and was now dating a sexy senior by the name of Ethan Hart. Apparently the athletic brunet was interested in her for a while now and Mona helpfully passed the word on to Hanna. They got together in November and two months later, things were going very well.

Slipping on her jacket, the brunette was ready to leave when her mother intercepted her. She had only arrived home minutes ago and she was set to leave again in a half-hour for a quick business trip to Singapore. "Your father and Isabel are getting married. They sent an invitation for you," her mother handed a cream envelope to a very surprised Hanna. She met the over-tanned woman and her unjustly beautiful daughter Kate only once years ago, but she had no idea they lasted this long. She and her father hadn't spoken in nearly four years.

She snorted and dumped the envelope on a nearby table. "I'll read it later," she lied as she made for the door. Right now, she had important people to meet.

Twenty minutes later, Hanna arrived at Cherry Lounge, a posh bar and club on the edge of Old Hollis that looked the other way when it came to underage drinking. She was meeting up with Ethan, Mona, and Eric Kahn just to relax and unwind from midterms. She couldn't think of anywhere she'd rather be on a cold Thursday night.

Mona was already seated with Eric in a polished cherry wood booth. She wore a sparkly sapphire dress and her new Tiffany drop earrings glimmered in the dim light. "Hey there," she greeted as Hanna sat across from them. Ethan appeared several minutes later.

"Hi," he kissed Hanna and smiled at their two companions. A barmaid came by and the teens ordered their favorite alcoholic beverages. Two hours later, they were laughing and nearly shouting to be heard over the music. They had gone through several rounds of drinks and everything felt pleasantly hazy. Hanna rested her head on the brunet's shoulder as Mona told a story about seeing two girls making out in the hallway at the Kahn's Christmas party.

A remix of Britney's old hit Toxic came on and Mona immediately pushed Eric to get out of the booth. "We're going to dance for a while. Don't have too much fun while we're away," she winked at the brown-haired couple.

Soft green eyes peered at Hanna. "Do you wanna go dance too?"

She shook her head. "No, I'd prefer staying with you" she whispered.

The two engaged in a heavy make out session. Hanna nearly forgot they were still in the club. She broke off their kiss and took a deep breath. She'd been thinking about this for a while and she felt ready to take their relationship to the next level. "Do you wanna head back to my place? My mom's on a flight to Asia right now. I have the house to myself."

He looked at her intently. "Really?" At seeing her nod, Ethan grinned. "Okay." They kissed again and ordered some glasses of water to clear their heads. Thirty minutes later they were getting ready to leave. Hanna texted Mona on her way out and got a congratulatory response pretty quickly. They got in their cars and drove to her house. She made sure to move down the long, winding driveway slowly so Ethan wouldn't have too much trouble navigating in the dark.

Her mini-pinscher Dot greeted them as they entered through the garage. "Down, Dot," she said after petting the dog. "Just leave your shoes and coat over here." They left the foyer and walked upstairs to Hanna's room. She flicked the lights on and turned to Ethan. "Do you have a condom?"

The dark-haired boy searched his wallet and pulled out a packet. "I come prepared," he stated in a faux dramatic tone, making the brunette giggle.

Hanna wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him backwards towards her bed. In a sense, she was really happy her relationship with Sean didn't work out. Ethan was so much more laid-back and willing to have a good time, plus he also had that caring quality that Hanna liked about her ex.

When she looked back on that January night with her new boyfriend, she didn't think it could've been any more perfect.

* * *

Ezra Fitz rushed around his Old Hollis home and made sure everything was in place. To his great fortune, Valentine's Day landed on a Saturday this year. Aria would be here in a matter of minutes and he planned out the perfect evening for the special occasion. It was unfortunate that they couldn't go out like a normal couple but neither of them minded too much.

He had never connected with another girl on the level that he did with Aria. It was rare to see someone her age that was so intellectual and mature. If Ezra had been told that he'd fall for a sixteen year old girl a year ago, much less his student, he would've scoffed at the very notion. This was _not_ what he was expecting when he graduated from college in May, but life was pretty strange like that.

He finished lighting the candles on the table when the doorbell rang. Smoothing his hair back, he opened the door to see Aria standing in a short gray coat. Her long black hair fell around her shoulders and her pale blue eyes sparkled. "Hi." She smiled adorably at him.

Ezra pulled her close for a kiss. "Come in, you're just in time for dinner." He took her coat and admired her lithe form. She wore a sleeveless deep crimson dress that managed to be sweet and sexy. "You look gorgeous," he told her earnestly.

She blushed a bit. "Thanks, I didn't dress up _too_ much," she murmured. He smiled and led her to the table, where he set two plates of chicken parmigiana and glasses of red wine.

"Now I know you're underage and I probably shouldn't be giving you alcohol, but we _did_ meet in a bar," Ezra said teasingly.

Aria giggled and responded, "I think I can handle a glass of wine. You know how much they drink in Iceland."

"Don't remind me," he cringed and she laughed outright. The meal turned out surprisingly well for Ezra's average cooking skills and the two watched a foreign romance film he rented for the occasion. Halfway through the movie, they were already making out on his couch. Ezra pulled the raven-haired girl into his lap and completely ignored the film.

After a moment they broke apart. She played with the collar of his shirt and gave him a quick peck on the forehead. He stood up with Aria in his arms and walked to his bedroom.

The next morning, Ezra blearily opened his eyes and looked around. The sunlight was peeking in through the windows and Aria's head rested on his chest. A quick glance told him she was still sleeping. The young man yawned and surveyed his room lazily. He had about forty to fifty quizzes to grade…but he could wait until tonight to do that.

Aria shifted a bit and slowly opened her eyes. "Good morning sleepyhead," he whispered. She smiled and stretched.

"Good morning," she softly replied. "What time is it?"

"It's a quarter to eleven." Ezra laughed at the startled look on her face. She sighed and rested on his chest again. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as they enjoyed the peaceful Sunday morning.

* * *

Toby Cavanaugh walked down the halls of Rosewood Day High School's main building. He was on his way to the swimming arena with his teammates for their swim meet against Rosewood Day's male team. He glanced around at the student lockers, the closed classroom doors, and the bulletin boards decorating the walls. A flyer for a St. Patrick's Day celebration was pinned in the corner. Even though it was nearly a week ago, no one bothered to take it down. He snorted as he looked ahead.

He could've been a student here. In fact, he _would have_ enrolled at this school if it wasn't for Alison DiLaurentis.

Since she pinned the blame for Jenna's accident on Toby, he had to go to boarding school in Maine. Now he was back in Rosewood and attending Tate Prep School for boys. He had a choice to attend his old school's H.S. division but he didn't want to. There were too many bad memories attached to the place and it was difficult enough to even come here for a couple of hours.

The dark-haired boy blinked dazedly and shook his head. He couldn't think about that time right now. Not when the team was depending on him to do well tonight. It was the first big match of the year and it would set the pace for the rest of the season's competitions. They arrived to see a growing crowd of people take the bleachers. Toby looked around curiously and eventually found what he was looking for. Emily Fields was looking out from the locker rooms with a few girls. She spotted him and waved. He returned the greeting with a smile.

Toby bumped into the redhead in November. It was a rather odd meeting since she passed out just after seeing him. He didn't remember much about her other than the fact that she was one of Ali's clique members and she seemed to be the nicest of the group. To his delight, he discovered that she and the blonde bitch were no longer friends.

Toby and Emily developed a close friendship in the past few months but he wanted something more. He knew the redhead had a boyfriend—who quite frankly seemed like an asshole—but he couldn't help his feelings. It was lonely being here in Rosewood. There were some good people he met at Tate Prep, but he wanted to have an actual relationship. He only dated a couple of girls in Maine and he never really clicked with them. With Emily it was so wonderfully different.

"Okay, let's go! We start in seven minutes, so get to the locker room!" Toby's coach shouted.

After the meet, Toby walked up to Emily. She was checking for something in her bag. She looked up at hearing his footsteps and smiled. "Hey! Great match today. Are we still on for movies at my house on Friday?"

"Yep, I'll bring _The Village,_ " he said. Before Toby could say anything else, a loud ruckus interrupted him. The boys from Rosewood Day's team were guffawing and shouting as they exited their locker room. The brunet rolled his eyes. He remembered some of them from middle school and they clearly hadn't changed a bit.

He turned to Emily and noticed her dull expression. Twisting his head to see what she was looking at, he saw Ben Coogan and another swimmer chatting with a few girls who just walked in. He clenched his fists after realizing one of them was Alison DiLaurentis. The jock leaned into a short-haired blonde girl by Ali's side. _Flirting in front of his girlfriend? Great guy right there,_ he thought sarcastically.

"Uh, are you gonna talk to Ben?" he asked out loud. The redhead's posture stiffened.

"No. Ben's being an immature brat right now. He's upset that I've been swimming faster than him in our last few practices and there's a few other things going on," she muttered. Emily zipped her bag rather forcefully and turned away from the scene. "Are you busy right now? I'm going to Applebee's with my sister and her boyfriend. You can come too."

Was that Lady Fortune giving him the green light? Toby grinned as he processed his friend's complaints about Ben. It seemed like they've been having trouble for quite a while. He didn't take pleasure in other people's misery, yet he felt like this was his chance to start pushing for something more with Emily. "Sure, I'm actually pretty hungry."

She gave him a heartwarming smile. "Great! It's kind of a tradition for us to eat there after a big meet." The redhead glanced at her boyfriend, who was _still_ flirting with Ali's lackey. She turned back to Toby with a mildly annoyed expression and said, "I'm gonna tell Ben that I'm leaving, but you can go ahead. See you in fifteen minutes!"

"Later," he said as he walked out of the building. If he was lucky, he might actually have a chance with the redhead very soon.

* * *

On a warm Saturday afternoon in early May, Noel Kahn was working on the last few tasks on his to-do list for a party in the evening. His brother Eric was debating which pizza place to order from and his girlfriend was texting nearby. Ali stayed overnight since all of their parents were out of town as usual.

Currently, they were all hanging out in the Kahns' large French country-style kitchen. Noel frowned after going through several cabinets. "Shit, we don't have much vodka or Sam Adams…and it looks like we completely ran out of Jack Daniels. I guess we forgot to stock up after the last bash."

Eric cringed from his seat at the vast counter island and looked up from one of the menus. "We can't throw a party without Jack Daniels. Do you think Tim's working at Gunnar right now?" One of the Kahn brothers' many connections was an employee at Gunnar Liquor called Tim. The young man regularly sold them what they needed.

"Yeah, he usually works long shifts on Saturdays but he gets off pretty early. If I leave now I might still catch him." Noel grabbed his keys from the counter and prepared to leave.

"Wait." Ali was seated next to his brother and had barely paid any attention to their party arrangements. Sapphire eyes glanced up from the phone in her hands. "Can you pick up an iced latte for me at Hestia's?"

The raven-haired boy nodded. "Do you want anything else?" She shook her head and returned to texting. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left. Fifteen minutes later he arrived in Old Hollis. Rosewood's less glamorous district was perfect for the things teens couldn't do or get anywhere else. This included anything from going into bars, partying at clubs they had no business entering…and making purchases that were considered illegal for their age.

Noel parked in front of a small building. A neat dark green sign displayed 'Gunnar Liquor Co.' in white block letters. He peered through the window and grinned at the sight of a sandy-haired man working at the register. He quickly went inside and greeted him. "Hey Tim!"

"What's up Noel?" The young man checked the nearby clock. "Whatever you're buying, get it fast because I'm due to leave in twenty minutes."

"No problem, I know what I need. This is an emergency pick-up so I'll be quick." He grabbed a cart and moved swiftly along the aisles. Five minutes later, he loaded his stash into his trunk, sent a victory text to Eric, and drove three miles down to Hestia's Java, an offbeat café that had surprisingly excellent coffee. It was the type of place that only some people were lucky enough to run into. Not too many residents outside of the college community knew about the wonders of Hestia's Java.

The place was packed with Hollis College students and a variety of other people. Noel stood in line behind three people and looked around idly. The colorful mosaic-tiled tables were occupied by lots of students studying for finals. There were a few professor-looking types too. His eyes surveyed the area briefly and snapped back to a table in the corner.

His AP English teacher Mr. Fitz was having coffee. Noel figured he'd be the type to frequent this kind of place. He wasn't alone either; a girl with long black hair covering most of her face sat across from him. The young teacher grabbed one of her hands and kissed it while looking at her. The girl pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled at him.

Noel's jaw dropped as he took in the distinct profile of Aria Montgomery. _What the fuck?_ The raven-haired boy stared as Aria leaned across the table to kiss their teacher. Suddenly he turned away in fear that he might draw their attention. He vacantly gave the cashier his order and walked out to his Navigator. Noel didn't think they saw him…he stealthily glanced inside. The couple were happily absorbed in each other just like they were a few minutes ago.

His heartbeat was a bit faster than normal as he drove home. He couldn't believe it: Aria Montgomery was dating their English teacher! Noel shook his head dazedly and thought about her possible motives. It couldn't be for grades; Aria was by far the smartest, most well-spoken student in their class. He was willing to bet the other AP section didn't have students as good as she was. Maybe it was for a good recommendation letter for college…but that didn't seem right either. Could it be possible that she actually _liked_ him?

The boy shuddered as he entered his long driveway. He didn't want to think about Hestia's. He didn't want to consider the idea that the girl he's liked since middle school was probably boning Mr. Fitz. He'd never be able to look at the man—or Aria—the same way again.

Eric came into the garage and cheered, "Sweet! Let's get the drinks in the fridge and then we'll order the pizza in an hour." They made a couple of trips between the kitchen and the car.

Noel set the iced latte in front of Ali, who was still seated at the island. She smiled and gave him a kiss. "Thank you." She tilted her head and looked at him curiously. "Are you okay? You're a bit pale."

"Uh, yeah I'm fine. I think I just need to lie down for a bit." He smiled nervously and left the room before she could respond. Once Noel got to his bedroom, he let out a huge breath. He was not expecting this _at all_.

Should he tell the principal? No, that would be a shitty move on his part. They never even saw him and it wasn't fair. Maybe he should tell one of them and warn the couple to be a bit more discreet. But he didn't want to do that either!

"Ugh." He flopped onto his newly made bed. He blankly gazed at Ali's Louis Vuitton travel bag while the scene at Hestia's ran through his mind. He really wished he didn't see the strange couple. Maybe he could just pretend he never saw them. That seemed like a good plan for now.

* * *

Ian Thomas drummed his fingers on the wheel of his SUV. He started to date Melissa Hastings in February and it almost felt like they were in high school again. It was fun.

He slowly turned onto her street and saw a familiar face as he got closer to the estate. Ali DiLaurentis stood near the curb in front of her house and was currently engrossed in a magazine. Her hair was in a high ponytail and she wore a blue t-shirt with white shorts. It reminded him of _those_ days three years ago.

They'd avoided each other all year and the last practice was over a week ago. School ended last Wednesday and he was feeling cheerful, so he slowed to a stop right in front of her. The girl's expression became neutral when she saw him. He flashed her a huge grin.

"Hey Ali. Glad to be out of school?"

"Well duh. I assume you're visiting the Hastings." The way she looked at him was a bit unnerving but he didn't think much of it.

"Yeah, me and Melissa are dating again. She's moving to her own place soon. But enough about that." Ian tilted his sunglasses so he could get a better look at the blonde. "How are _you?_ Are things going well with that Kahn guy?"

She bit her lip before answering, "Noel and I are doing just fine. I'm not sure why it's any of your business."

With a teasing smile, the blond replied, "Don't think too much of it. I like knowing that your new boyfriends are treating you nicely." The girl snorted and shook her head. Ian looked behind her to an attractive wooden structure standing in the backyard. "Nice. Is that your gazebo?" He nodded his head past the blonde.

For the first time since he returned to Rosewood, he elicited a smile from Alison. "Yes it is. It was finished a few weeks before I started eighth grade." He recognized that expression on her face well. She always had that mischievous glint in her eyes when she was feeling especially secretive.

Ian raised a brow and grinned back. He had no idea what was so amusing about a plain old gazebo but it was nice to not have her glaring at him. "Cool." He checked the time on his radio. "Well, I've gotta go meet Melissa now. Take care."

"You too," she replied with the strange smile lingering on her face. Ian shrugged and drove a few feet down to the Hastings Estate. He didn't want Melissa to see him talking to the teenager; she already had a few suspicions about his cheating tendencies in high school and Ali was her top suspect. Glancing in the rear-view mirror, he saw the blonde walking into her home. What they had was long over but that didn't mean he couldn't be friendly.

* * *

Spencer snuggled with Wren Kim in his Old Hollis apartment. The med student had finally gotten his own place in January, just a while before he and her sister ended their relationship. The younger Hastings began to see him in March.

It started with an off-chance meeting; they definitely weren't expecting to see each other any time soon. She was picking up a copy of _The House of Mirth_ for AP English at a local bookstore and he was also there to replace a lost copy of one of his favorite plays, Shakespeare's _King Lear_. Polite conversation turned into an invitation to his apartment. Feeling a little lonely and depressed by her family life—her parents continued to ignore her and focus on _adult_ Melissa—she gladly accepted.

One visit turned into several until they dropped all pretenses and began to date. Spencer loved being with Wren—there was a passion there that she'd never felt before. She often stayed at his place on the weekends and no one in her family questioned her absence. Obviously she couldn't be _too_ open about her boyfriend's identity, but she kind of liked it that way. He was a welcome reprieve from the constant stress induced by school and her home life.

She frowned as she recalled the reading of her grandmother's will back in January. For some reason, the woman left every grandchild two million dollars _except_ for Spencer. Melissa looked shocked but amused and her parents just told her to leave after she inquired about being omitted from the will. That was the last straw for Spencer. She began to distance herself from her family, not that they were even that close to begin with. At least now she could have the barn to herself. In her luckier moments she could go several days without seeing her parents at all. The AC whirred softly as they watched reruns of _Law and Order._

Wren drank a bit of strawberry lemonade as the commercials came on. "When's the last day of your internship?"

"I think it's the twenty-first. Or maybe it's the twenty-fourth." Her brow furrowed. "Either way it's a week before school starts. I'll have to double check the date." Time sure was flying by quickly. It was the middle of August and she was ready to start her senior year of high school in a couple of weeks.

Spencer couldn't wait to go to college and truly be independent. She'd only have to see her family for the holidays and even then it would only be necessary for freshman year. She was aiming for Princeton University and she knew she had a strong chance of making it.

There was no telling how long Spencer and Wren would last, but she hoped they could enjoy the year ahead of them together. Princeton wasn't far from home at all and they could visit each other easily. Feeling extremely optimistic about her future, she slung an arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. The med student grinned and turned to initiate a real kiss.

Later that night, Spencer curled up to her boyfriend in bed. For the first time in years she was actually happy. Even better, it seemed like her good luck wouldn't end anytime soon.

* * *

Emily walked around Haverford College's spectacular campus in awe. Toby was starting his freshman year at the liberal arts school and the redhead couldn't be happier for him. Another town on the Main Line, Haverford was only about forty minutes away from Rosewood. She could visit her boyfriend anytime and vice versa.

The girl smiled sadly. It was too bad they only started to date in late April but at least they had the summer together. She reminded herself that Haverford wasn't too far and that lifted her spirits a bit. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and turned to see her boyfriend smiling at her. "I'm unpacking my stuff later. Let's take a walk around the pond." He grasped her hand and led her down a sunny path from his dormitory.

Other freshmen were milling about the place. Some were bringing in suitcases and boxes into various buildings, others were saying goodbye to their families, and more were sitting together in groups. Emily gasped softly as she realized she was only a year away from being in this scenario. It was a thought that frightened her a bit. Where did her childhood go? She could recall those days in sixth and seventh like it was yesterday.

Her reflections came to a halt as they stood in front of a pond partially enclosed by trees. Several ducks glided over the calm waters lazily and made the occasional quacking noise. The redhead smiled and enjoyed the scenery. This place was perfect for Toby; he had worked so hard to get into the high-ranking school. "It's beautiful," she murmured.

"Isn't it? I never saw myself staying in Pennsylvania for college but everything about Haverford seemed like the right fit." His deep blue eyes surveyed the impeccable landscape. He turned to his girlfriend and asked, "You'll visit me, won't you?"

"Of course," Emily laughed. "I wouldn't miss a chance to see this place again," she added teasingly. Toby chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sure the ducks will be glad to see you too," he said wryly. They watched the pond for several more minutes before heading back to his dorm. The brunet faced Emily with a slightly sad grin on his face. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." He hugged his tearful girlfriend and gave her a gentle kiss. "We're gonna see each other really soon, okay?"

Emily nodded and smiled despite her tears. "I'm really happy for you Toby. You're going to do so well here." After another embrace and kiss, she walked several feet away. Turning around, she saw Toby at the entrance of his dorm. She gave him a small wave and continued walking.

On the drive back to Rosewood, she thought about her own future. In one week she'd be a senior at Rosewood Day. She still couldn't believe she was applying to college soon. It seemed like she went from being eleven to seventeen in a flash. A lot had changed in those years: some for the better, and some for the worse. For now, she was going to focus on the positive changes in her life and complete senior year without any regrets.  



	5. Act Four: New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finale. Set from senior year to post-college.

Act Four: New Beginnings

For the first time since she came back from Iceland, Aria was actually taking note of her classmates at Rosewood Day. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was the last semester of her high school years, nor did it involve any sentimental feelings towards the people she reluctantly called her peers. No, it was simply because it was "Wear Your College Shirt" day and she was curious to see where everyone was going.

She wore a dark blue New York University t-shirt and thankfully she hadn't seen anyone else with an NYU top yet. Sure, it was a huge university in an even larger city, but that didn't mean she wanted to see anyone from Rosewood accompanying her there.

It was the early afternoon and so far Aria saw lots of future Ivies and liberal arts college students. Knowing the intelligence levels of most of these students, she was pretty sure some of them bought their way into places like Yale. She saw Spencer Hastings wearing a Princeton shirt but considered her an exception to the rich kid trend. The blonde was involved in half the activities at school and would probably be the valedictorian or salutatorian in their class.

She frowned a bit as she thought of her old friends. They'd all be traveling down their own paths in life and eventually their preteen friendship might be nothing more than a passing memory. Scenes from the Jenna Thing flashed through her mind and Aria unconsciously shivered.

Maybe it would be good if they could all forget about each other. She didn't like thinking about that time in her life, those 'good old days' when she said and did mean things just to fit in with Ali's clique. Aria knew that moving to New York would be good for her. It would be a welcome reprieve from the toxic memories and stifling atmosphere of her hometown. Besides, there was more than a spot at NYU waiting for her in the city. Ezra Fitz was no longer a teacher at Rosewood Day.

He left the post just after the holidays for a position with one of the best literary and cultural magazines in the country. The company happened to be located in NYC. In some ways, it was unfortunate that he and Aria couldn't meet up whenever they pleased. However, the raven-haired girl knew the pros far outweighed the cons. The most obvious benefit was being able to go out with him anywhere in the city without having to hide. He was no longer her teacher, so as far as she was concerned, they were now a true couple. Besides, once she started college they would be close to each other again. Aria couldn't wait.

She smiled as she walked outside towards her car. Her last two classes for the day were study periods and she was thus allowed to leave campus early. A male student walked ahead of her with a partially open sports bag slung over his shoulder. A blue wristband fell from the opening and Aria moved to pick it up.

"Uh, hey, you dropped this," she called to the boy ahead of her. She raised a brow when he turned around. It was Noel Kahn, who was wearing a crimson Harvard sweatshirt. The raven-haired girl barely kept a smirk off her face. She also saw Alison DiLaurentis with a Harvard t-shirt this morning; it must've been awkward for them since they broke up shortly after midterms.

Noel flinched slightly as he saw her t-shirt and quickly took the wristband. "Thanks," he muttered. He had long stopped flirting and talking to Aria every time they bumped into each other. The athlete turned to walk away, but hesitated and cautiously looked at her again. "So, you're going to be at NYU, huh? Great school."

"Yeah…of course it's not as big as Harvard," she yielded. He was acting a bit odd…Aria was _very_ relieved that his unwanted attention ended, but now that she thought about it, Noel seemed to be studiously avoiding her. Strange indeed.

"Nah, they're basically at the same level," he laughed awkwardly. "NYC's a pretty cool place. Isn't Mr. Fitz working there?" He had a look in his eyes that was making her strangely uncomfortable.

Aria's brow furrowed. Why was he asking about Ezra? "Yeah, he's working with _The New York Review of Books._ He said so in his last class with us before Christmas break, remember?"

Another odd laugh sounded from Noel. "Maybe you'll run into each other. If you do, say hi to him for me. Well…thanks again. Later," He turned quickly but Aria caught his arm. She wanted to know why the hell he was acting so strangely.

"Did I say something weird? Because _you're_ being pretty weird right now. Or maybe it's just me." She stared at his face searchingly.

Blue eyes widened at her question and Noel looked around furtively before lowering his voice and replying, "Look, I have no idea how things are between you and Mr. Fitz now, but you're lucky you guys weren't caught by the wrong people while he was still working here."

 _Oh my God_. She paled and absently let go of Noel's sleeve. "Y-you saw us?" But she and Ezra were so careful…so she thought. _Ohmygod_ Noel Kahn _saw us together_ ran through her head in an unending loop _._ She wanted to die.

She barely heard the next words of her old crush. "Yeah…at Hestia's about a year ago." He also looked like he wanted to either run for the hills or crawl into the nearest ditch. "Well, like I said, it's a good thing you weren't seen by anyone who would tell the authorities." Seeing the raven-haired girl blankly staring at him, he blushed and took a couple of steps back. "Uh, have fun at NYU." He bolted for his Navigator. Aria finally snapped out of her trance when she heard the tires squeal as Noel left the parking lot.

"Oh my God," she murmured out loud. If he caught them over a year ago, he would've had plenty of time to spread gossip or even let a school administrator know. A small part of Aria was grateful that he didn't tell anyone, but she was mostly mortified at the moment. She walked to her Subaru and sat in the driver's seat for a few minutes. Shaking her head, she left the school and decided to grab a milkshake. On the way to Sweet Tooth Shoppe, she decided not to tell Ezra about this little development. It didn't matter anymore now that he was in New York and Aria wanted to forget her little chat with Noel anyway.

* * *

Mona Vanderwaal admired her reflection in the mirror. She wore a strapless mint-colored Alice + Olivia dress that suited her very well. Earlier that afternoon, she officially became a high school graduate. Now she was getting ready for Noel Kahn's graduation bash.

The platinum blonde tossed a new white bikini into her Chloe bag. The scar she got from the firework incident was practically gone now, thanks to constant treatments at the burn clinic. She could comfortably show off her flat stomach without feeling self-conscious. Hanna was also at her house and was currently applying eyeliner in her bathroom. The brunette looked fabulous in a sparkly beige halter dress.

The blond wandered over to the bathroom. "Han, are you done yet?" She quickly checked her own makeup for posterity: navy eyeliner, rose-tinted lips, and a modest amount of YSL mascara. Sometimes the simplest looks were the best ones.

Hanna swiped on some cherry-tinted lip gloss, examined her reflection, and threw her makeup into a mesh bag. "Just about. What time is it?"

"Time for us to get the hell out of here! We don't want to show up _too_ late," Mona said as she gently pushed her friend out the door. The brunette pouted at her playfully but grabbed her purse and slipped into her sandals.

They were in Mona's BMW three minutes later and driving at a rather fast speed. Neither girl cared, for they were too excited about the day's events and the future to think about following the speed limits. The windows were down, the stereo volume was turned up, and the high school graduates were belting out the tunes from the radio.

"God, these last few weeks were _amazing_ ," Hanna exclaimed as a slow song came on. "You know what's gonna be even more awesome? Going to college in Cali! I can't wait."

"Me either." The blonde grinned as she turned the corner. Both she and Hanna were attending school in California. She'd be getting her education in UCLA while the brunette would be at Pepperdine in Malibu. The campuses were only an hour away from each other, so they could visit each other anytime. "We could totally go to the beach any time of the year, plus there's the excellent shopping."

"Yes! I'm so looking forward to this. It'll be nice to get away from Rosewood. It's so dull here sometimes."

"Tell me about it." If she had to be honest, Mona wanted to be far away from home for other reasons. She might've had a great high school experience, but occasionally memories of the time before that plagued her. She sighed as she thought of Jenna Cavanaugh. She hadn't spoken to her ex-friend since she told her the truth about the "accident". There were moments when she wanted to see the raven-haired girl, but her nerves always got the best of her. Mona wondered what the girl's plans were.

"Hey, what's up? You've gone all quiet on me." Hanna peered at her curiously.

The blonde shook her head. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about _those_ days. She was young, beautiful, and had a bright future ahead of her. The time for moping long ended with dorky Mona. "Nothing. Just reminiscing about those moments in junior year. You know the ones," she replied with a smirk.

Hanna covered her eyes with a hand and laughed. "Oh no. We've had so many 'moments' that year that I feel like they were just crazy dreams."

Mona chortled as they pulled onto the Kahns' long driveway. "I think all the pictures I have on my computer will confirm how real they were."

"Ahh, you still have them? We really did some crazy shit that year, especially in spring semester." The brunette shook her head though a smile lingered on her face.

They were lucky enough to get the last spot on the driveway and the girls climbed out of the car. Of course most of the in-crowd was here already. Music echoed throughout the lush fields and their fellow graduates were already partying hard. A few hot senior boys were talking near a table filled with liquor. Mona slung an arm around Hanna's shoulder as they made their way towards the area. "Let's make this a night to remember Han!"

"Hell yeah! I've been waiting for this all week long. Let's rock this party!" she cheered.

Mona smiled, all thoughts of the past forgotten. Sure, she'd never be able to rid herself of those not-so-great times in her life, but that didn't mean she couldn't make happier memories to replace them.

* * *

Spencer let out an exhausted breath after finally getting settled into her new dorm room. _How nice of Mom and Dad to offer their help,_ she thought sarcastically. Her father did help her bring in a few boxes and the mini fridge, but other than that, her parents were virtually absent. The dirty blonde vaguely recalled her mother mentioning something about a visit to the library. She really couldn't care less.

She looked around the space and knew she lucked out. It was a fairly large, airy room—especially for a freshman. The windows were large, the carpet was an attractive dark blue shade, and the walls were pristine. Her roommate Liya—the daughter of a diplomat from Ethiopia and a prominent scholar from the same country—had left ten minutes ago to pick up a few extra things. The two had first talked on Facebook when the roster of roommates were sent out in late July. She seemed pretty nice and was nearly as OCD as Spencer was, judging from the orderly appearance of her side of the room.

Too tired to do much else, she pulled out her Mac notebook and checked her email. Her spirits lifted slightly after reading a message from Wren. Though their romance didn't work out, they remained close friends. She appreciated having a friend who knew about her family's ridiculous need to project a perfect image. Spencer idly surfed the web until she heard the door opening. Liya walked in with a couple of bags from Bed, Bath & Beyond. "Got what you needed?"

"Yes! I'm lucky that they still had a lot of dorm products in stock," Liya spoke softly in lightly accented English. "I didn't think I'd need these until I saw how much storage space I could get!" She held up a box of bed lifts.

"Yeah, my older sister graduated from the University of Pennsylvania a year ago so I already had a sense of which 'dorm essentials' were actually necessary." She laughed and placed her Mac on her desk. "Need help getting those under the bed?"

"Yes, thank you." The two managed to fit each block under the bed in a few minutes. Liya tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear and glanced around. "This is a really nice room. I'm surprised they didn't designate it for upperclassmen."

"I was just thinking about that a few minutes ago. We're pretty lucky." Spencer glanced out the nearby window, which provided a nice view of the dorm's courtyard. She turned back to her roommate. "So, how do you like it here so far?" International students arrived on campus a week earlier than domestic students, so she figured Liya was getting well acclimated to the area.

"It's great! I met up with a couple of students from East Asia a few days ago and we visited—" Several short but precise knocks on the door interrupted the Ethiopian student.

"Spencer?" It was her parents. She was a little surprised they were actually going to say goodbye to her.

Rolling her eyes and silently mouthing an apology to Liya, the dark blonde jumped up and opened the door. Mr. and Mrs. Hastings stood stiffly in front of her. She shifted uncomfortably and asked, "Do you want to come in?"

"That would be nice," her mother replied as they entered the room. She looked past Spencer and smiled warmly at her daughter's roommate. "Oh, hello Liya. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you." Spencer's parents were delighted to learn that her roommate came from such a prestigious, well-connected background. On the drive to Princeton her father talked about taking this opportunity to 'start building a strong network' and her mother prattled on about 'keeping good company'. She wondered if they would ever stop focusing on appearances and just live _normally_ for once. Unfortunately she already knew the answer.

Mild chatter persisted for a few minutes until Liya received a call to join some friends for dinner. As she left, Spencer's father glanced down at his watch and said, "Well Veronica, we should probably get going." He turned to Spencer and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Stay out of trouble now. You've worked too hard to ruin your potential here." To her surprise, her father hugged her. She hadn't had physical contact with her parents in years. "We're very proud of you Spencer," he murmured as he let go.

"Uh, thanks…" Spencer glanced at her mother, who was staring at her with suspiciously bright eyes.

Mrs. Hastings soon stepped forward and hugged her as well. She pulled away and gave a slight sniffle. "It only seems like yesterday we were preparing for your first day in kindergarten. Now you're starting your college career as a successful young woman. We know you'll do well in whatever you choose to pursue." Spencer smiled hesitantly at them. Those were definitely tears in her mother's eyes.

Suddenly a well of conflicting emotions surfaced within her. She swallowed thickly and stared at the carpet, willing herself to stay in control. "I—I'm really happy to hear that." The blonde impulsively gave her parents another hug and bid them farewell.

For several minutes afterward she sat on her bed and stared out the window, feelings in turmoil and increasingly teary eyes. Everything about her family that she thought she understood was slowly eroding thanks to a five minute goodbye. She still didn't know what exactly she was feeling or why she was experiencing it, but it overwhelmed her.

Taking a shuddering breath, she walked outside and sat on one of the courtyard's stone benches. Her thoughts ran a mile a minute as she vacantly watched the sunset. Eventually she stood up and walked to the nearest dining hall. She could analyze what happened as much as she wanted to later but for now, she just wanted to focus on settling into her new life as a college student. She at least wanted her orientation week to be free of emotional complications.

* * *

"So what's it like going to school in Alabama? Is the whole 'Southern hospitality' thing accurate?"

Emily sipped on her peppermint hot cocoa while considering the question. Currently a freshman at Auburn University, she returned to Rosewood for Thanksgiving break a few days ago. It was a busy afternoon on Black Friday and she was currently hanging out at one of the mall's better cafés with her old teammate Maria Sonetti and Maya St. Germain. The girls' relationship seemed to be as strong as ever. Emily's own romance with Toby Cavanaugh was also going well.

"I guess," she mused. "A lot of the locals are definitely very polite. I've never had so many strangers greet me before! But there's also some people who just don't like or trust the college population much, which is kind of understandable I guess. Some of the frats don't have the nicest reputations so there's some distrust among the townies. There's also the locals who dislike 'Yankees' being in what they consider their territory." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "That was actually a lot more complicated than I thought it would be."

"Interesting," Maria replied while Maya nodded. "Can't think of any place like that in California. But then again, I've only been there for three months." Emily's old teammate enrolled at UC Berkeley while Maya attended Stanford University. When the redhead thought about it, quite a few of her high school classmates were going to college on the West Coast.

"It depends on where in California you are," Maya chimed in. "San Francisco and a lot of North California's pretty cool, but the social scene in L.A. is a completely different story. Some of the towns in Orange County can be a bit weird too."

Emily smiled as her friends continued to talk about the friendliest and the most annoying areas in California. She managed to stop acting weirdly around Maya shortly after she and Toby began to date nearly two years ago. Now she was even more convinced that the stress of junior year had a quirky effect on her. She _definitely_ wasn't into girls.

Every now and then she occasionally took a good, long look at an attractive female, but wasn't it normal for people to appreciate beauty? Just because Emily liked seeing attractive women didn't mean she was gay. Besides, women complimented and admired each others' appearances all the time and no one considered that to be 'gay'. She chose to think nothing more of it.

The redhead was pulled back into the conversation when Maya asked, "Are you going to Noel Kahn's New Year's party? I hear it's gonna be pretty wild."

"Hmm, not sure yet. Noel's parties are always crazy and exciting but I think I might stay low-key. Toby's not big on partying, so we might just celebrate at his family's house."

Maria pouted. "That's no fun. I'd hate to ring in the New Year with a bunch of boring adults." Emily snorted. It looked like the Italian's love for the party scene hadn't changed one bit. The three chatted for another half-hour and soon went their separate ways. The redhead was the last to leave the table. Gathering her coat and shopping bag in her hands, she maneuvered through the packed café and turned the corner to move through the door when—

"Oops, sorry!" she cried out as she walked straight into someone entering the shop. Emily had a rather strong, athletic build and so the more petite stranger was knocked into someone behind them. When she got a better look at the person, her stomach lurched unpleasantly.

Alison DiLaurentis quickly got her bearings together and cast a disgruntled look at her offender. James Freed was standing right behind the blonde and caught her shoulders as she stumbled backwards. They both recognized Emily at the same time: Ali's lip curled in disgust and James lifted a brow affably.

"Hey Emily, how's it been? College life going well for you?" the boy asked.

Shifting uncomfortably, the redhead replied, "Uh yeah. It's great. Um, sorry about bumping into you like that."

"It's no big deal," he said while Ali snorted. She straightened her short houndstooth coat and glared haughtily at Emily.

"Playing catch-up is nice and all, but do you mind moving? You're in the way." The blonde gestured towards the café door.

"U-uh sure, sorry." Emily hastily moved aside as Alison and James strode into the building.

She heard her ex-friend mutter, "Built like a freaking linebacker. Did you see how she practically bowled me over?"

"Haha! Ali, you're as bitchy as ever. Never change," her companion replied jovially. Emily winced and walked out of the café entirely. She certainly wasn't expecting _that_ to happen. She glanced back at the entryway before walking off towards JCPenney. Her thoughts went back to her old friend as she shopped.

She hadn't seen Alison since graduation and she'd almost forgotten how…breathtaking the girl was. Her usually wavy hair was straightened and pulled back with a black headband. Her eyes were lined in a festive silver shade and her lips were a natural looking cherry tint. Emotions that the redhead had finally buried were rising to the surface and she didn't need that right now.

Emily sucked in a breath and muttered to herself, "Get a grip Emily. Stop thinking about the past." She had no right to be having these feelings when she had a boyfriend she loved and adored. And she _wasn't_ gay. Shaking her head wearily, she left the store without purchasing anything and decided to call it a day. Talking to Toby would clear her head and make her forget that awkward meeting. But deep down inside, she didn't really believe it.

* * *

Hanna took a sip of her pina colada and stretched back on the lounge chair. She thought her high school spring breaks were great, but _college_ spring breaks were downright amazing. This was her second one and she was spending it with several friends in Cancún. Mona Vanderwaal relaxed on the chair next to her in a plum-colored bikini and the latest pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, flipping through a copy of _Vogue M_ _é_ _xico_. Hanna quite liked the Versace pair she herself was wearing at the moment.

"Blair Fontaine is _so hot,_ " a voice murmured to her right. Hanna turned and grinned at Cara Winston, one of the many friends she made at Pepperdine.

"You've been pining for him since freshman year. Just make a move already! I have it on good authority that he's into you too." She smoothed back her long hair, which was now an interesting reddish-caramel shade. It wasn't exactly the look she was going for but she wore the color well.

"Ah, I dunno," the girl murmured as she ran a hand through her short blonde hair. "He's a year older than us and I'm studying abroad in Japan this fall. We'd only have a few months together if we find out we really like each other. I just don't think it's worth the trouble, you know? There's plenty of cute guys in our year anyway, but still…" She stared at the brown-haired boy longingly.

"Well, just test the waters a bit. Flirt with him for a while and go for a hook-up if you can." Mona peered at them mischievously over her brown sunglasses. "Now's the perfect time to do it since it's spring break. If something's there, you're free to start a relationship that just might work out. If it was only lust, at least you satisfied your desires. You win either way."

"Ugh. _Mona,_ " Cara groaned into her hands while Hanna cackled. They looked at the hotel's vast swimming pool, where Blair and a few other guys who came with them were frolicking. One of Mona's friends from UCLA, Perry Altenburg, was currently horsing around with her boyfriend Will.

"Come _on,_ Cara. If you're not going to talk to him, I'll do it for you. This has gone on for too damn long if you ask me." The brunette took another sip of her drink and made to get up from her chair.

"Wait, wait! Hanna, _don't!_ " Her friend grabbed at her arm and stood up. "Okay, fine. I'll talk to him. If he shoots me down, I'm blaming you bitches."

Mona raised her strawberry daiquiri in a mock toast as the blonde walked towards the pool. "Don't worry, you'll be thanking us later," she cheerfully called out. Cara waved her hand at them without turning around. The platinum blonde set aside her drink and magazine with a hearty chuckle. "You think they'll last past spring break?"

Hanna tilted her head as she watched Cara approach Blair. "I'm not sure. The potential's definitely there, but Blair's a bit of a player. He's not a total slut like some of the other junior guys but he's had his fair share of hook-ups at school."

"Trust me, he gets some action at UCLA too." Mona rolled her eyes. "Every open campus party we have seems to result in a new conquest for him. He's probably hooked up with at least two girls from all the schools in our area."

"Mmm. And Cara's not exactly innocent but she's not the type to go for one-night stands and quick flings. I hope she knows what she's getting into."

Mona waved a hand carelessly. "I think she's aware enough of his reputation to not get her hopes up for an actual relationship. She's a smart girl."

"True." Hanna slowly turned to look at her longtime friend, a sneaky smile appearing on her features. "So who are _you_ wanting to hook-up with? I know a few of the hotter UCLA and UC Berkeley guys are staying at this hotel too."

"Oh, I have a couple in mind," Mona responded with a grin. "But I think I'll let that be a mystery. What happens in Cancún stays in Cancún."

The brunette snickered. "That's good for _after_ vacation, but we just got here two days ago! Spill it already so I know who to avoid."

"When you put it that way…" the platinum blonde raised a French-manicured finger to her chin in mock thought. "You know Chad Ristani, right? Tall, dark blond hair, likes to surf a lot, plays tennis? He's my number one goal. Jason Barrington and Luke Icenhower are top contenders too."

"Ooh, nice choices," Hanna nodded. Her own list had completely different guys, so there were no worries. "I've been interested in Aaron Moreau for a while and I figure now's the best time to make a move. He broke up with his girlfriend in January, so I've basically been waiting for the right opportunity."

"The one who's majoring in studio art? Nice. He's got that cute French artist look to him."

"Uh huh. He's _so_ cute. I would've gone for him sooner if that bitch Alicia didn't sink her claws into him." Hanna wrinkled her nose at the thought of the histrionic theater major.

"Well it looks like we've got the rest of our time in Cancún all planned out." Mona picked up her glass and raised it to the air. "May this spring break give us good hook-ups, good partying, and great gossip!"

"Cheers to that," Hanna smiled and clinked her glass with her friend's. She leaned back and breathed in the fresh air. The skies were clear, the weather was gorgeous, and she was having the time of her life with friends. The cute boys surrounding them didn't hurt much either. She closed her eyes and settled in for a nice tanning session. Things didn't get much better than this.

* * *

"We've gotten a really nice deal on this apartment in Cambridge. It's reasonably close to the campus and there are some quaint bookstores and cafés nearby too." Adrian Archambault smiled charmingly at the people before him and took a sip of a nicely aged strain of Cabernet Sauvignon.

"That's wonderful! It's amazing how everything has fallen into place. I can see you're going to go far, Adrian." Mrs. DiLaurentis beamed at the blond young man. "Any man who can make my daughter happy gets my full seal of approval."

"That's right. I'm sure you'll keep her out of trouble," Mr. DiLaurentis added jokingly.

Adrian chuckled and wrapped an arm around Alison DiLaurentis, who had a dry yet amiable expression on her soft features. "Oh, if anything, she keeps _me_ grounded. I'm a very lucky man indeed."

It was a pleasantly warm afternoon in early August. The DiLaurentis family—excluding Jason—and Adrian were currently at Bardsley Country Club. Alison graduated from Harvard University in May and was now preparing to attend the institution's business school. She met Adrian early in her junior year and the two hit it off ever since. He was also an economics major enrolling in Harvard Business School and hailed from one of New York's old money families. Their relationship had been serious for a long time and the blonde was fairly certain her boyfriend would pop the question to her by the end of the year.

She swept a wavy lock of hair over her shoulders as Adrian continued to impress and delight her parents. Sipping on her glass of wine, she looked up at the man and half-listened to his words. He was handsome in a clean-cut, professional way. His pale blond hair was just the right length, his eyes were an enchanting light blue, and his face was always free of hair. He spoke fluent French and his family owned several properties in France, Italy, and Switzerland. Adrian was also the heir to a multi-billion dollar corporation.

Needless to say, Alison hit the jackpot.

As her father and Adrian continued to talk by the lounge, she followed her mother to an empty table nearby. Several minutes later a waitress brought two small dishes of crème brûlée. Dipping her spoon into the cool custard, Mrs. DiLaurentis said, "Adrian is a very nice man. I think he suits you well." Taking a moment to enjoy the sweet dessert, she continued, "And he's from such a prestigious family too. Your father and I have heard much about the Archambaults on some of his trips to Manhattan. Hold on to this one, Alison."

Ali smiled at her mother. "We're very serious about each other. It's funny; I wasn't expecting to meet anyone like him in my Corporate Finance class. But we were partnered up for an early semester project and the rest is history." She fondly remembered those long evenings of work at the library when they first got to know each other. Mrs. DiLaurentis looked at her knowingly and took another bite of custard.

"I can see that you two are crazy about each other. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a proposal came up soon…"

The blonde giggled and glanced out at the golf course. She already knew an engagement was coming but it was nice to hear someone else say it. The women finished their crème brûlée and joined their partners again. Nearly an hour later, Alison and Adrian returned to her old home while her parents stayed behind to socialize with other guests at the country club. The blond man took in the large homes and immaculate lawns. He pointed to a large stone estate with a barn bordering her family's Victorian mansion. "That place always catches my eye every time I come here. You said you went to school with the kids living there?"

"Mmhm. Pretty much everyone on this street went to Rosewood Day," she said as she unlocked the front door. She gave a cursory glance to the Hastings estate before stepping inside. Ali had seen Spencer Hastings and Ian Thomas while she shopped at Bloomingdale's during Christmas break. She overheard the dark blonde telling him about her sister's pregnancy. Ali thought it was amusing that Melissa Hastings and Ian never did manage to work things out. He _was_ a loser after all.

She smoothed her white off-shoulder A-line dress and turned to her boyfriend. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm fine," he replied. He glanced at some of the photos in the hall and noticed one of Jason in his graduate gown from Yale. "How's your brother doing?" Adrian and Jason only met once, during the past Christmas break. Her brother barely visited his family since that summer so many years ago.

Ali rolled her eyes. "Not that he even checks in to let us know, but I'm guessing he's alright. He's probably still living in Stamford."

When her boyfriend had first inquired about Jason's distance, her mother said that he was always somewhat aloof, lamenting, "He's a loner by nature. It simply can't be helped." None of them were keen on explaining that the disappearance and presumable death of a third child in the family had everything to do with his cold demeanor.

Adrian shrugged and moved further through the house. He glimpsed at the gazebo through the large kitchen windows. "Let's hang out there for a while." The two walked down the newly laid stone path to the gazebo, which remained as serene as ever. The blond sat on one of the benches, gazing around the neighborhood in awe. "This really is an idyllic place to grow up. It's nothing like my upbringing on the Upper East Side."

Settling in next to him, Ali rested her head on his shoulder. "I love Rosewood. It's not the type of environment everyone would enjoy, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend my childhood anywhere else."

He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Do you see yourself living in other places? Let's say...somewhere more like Cambridge?"

The blonde smiled and looked up at him. "I adapt to different areas very well. I'm not planning on spending the rest of my life here."

"I'm glad to hear that," Adrian murmured as he shared a kiss with her. They enjoyed the view of the sunset and the rhythmic sounds of birds chirping in the woods surrounding them. Alison's gaze slowly fell to the weathered wooden floor and a familiar, mischievous smile lit up her face. In the end, everything worked out incredibly well. Courtney might have gotten a taste of the good life in Rosewood, but Ali made sure she was the only one left standing. _And my life is just beginning._


End file.
